Slave Boy
by Snow Tigra
Summary: Zabuza's worked for his share of the unsightly crowd. But when his current boss gets a boy as a 'gift' he finds himself forgetting his job, and destracted. HakuxZabuza, NarutoxGaaraxSasuke, OrochimaruxHaku
1. Default Chapter

Title: "Slave boy" Series: Naruto Author: Snow Tigra Pairings: ZabuzaxHaku, NarutoxSasukexGaara, OrochimaruxHaku Warnings: Yaoi. Pets. Slight age differences, assassins and certain characters being older then we've seen in the series. 

Chapter 1

I've worked like this for years, for as long as I can remember. You probably wouldn't recognize me, not as anyone important. I was the boy in school who sat in the back, paying little attention to those around me and barely scratching by on my grades as my mind dreamt of more important things. I had grades enough to pass, but barely any higher, save for the few subjects which managed to catch my fleeting interest. I covered the middle ground, somewhere in between those boys who wore glasses and were viewed over upturned noses as disgusting nerds and the large jocks who picked fights and brought home the trophies. I didn't fit into any crowd, choosing my few friends for shared interest only and forgetting them all when I left on graduation day. Exiting the scene of my former years in black with a red tassel seemed appropriate.

My father taught me hunting at an early age, making sure my hands were always comfortable with the feel of metal between my fingers. No bird or small rodent was safe in my back yard, nor any deer when the season was right. Father died in a hunting accident, taken down by the sport he loved the most soon after I'd found a place of my own. I inherited his gun collection.

The business itself introduced itself to me in the back of a bar, squeezed somewhere between too many glasses of alcohol and a discussion about my dead end job at the local retail store, climaxing in a challenge of darts. Looking back it doesn't seem like much at all and it certainly doesn't seem like any sort of interview, but then, I suppose, when your world is concealed behind closed metal plated doors and expensive suit jackets, posting a want ad was too simple. The best are always stumbled upon and seized. They are never simply volunteers.

He was a man with an exceedingly long name, as men in his position tend to have by default. The name itself was impressive and if that didn't get to you, his odd obsession with snakes certainly would. Every boss such as himself had something they liked more then was healthy. His rival liked young girls, far too young to say no or yes in any situation. The lady who owned the territory over the river had a taste for fine wine and thick smoke. And my boss, he liked his serpents. Everywhere.

The large green snake embroidered on my uniform wasn't nearly as impressive as the one he let roam around the meeting room, which his current guest was eyeing nervously.

"Is something wrong old friend. You seem to not like my pet."

The guest looked up and managed a friendly smile, shaking off his previous nervous look. I watched from my place at the door as the guest, Jiraiya, emptied his small porcelain glass a third time. He enjoyed his alcohol like a fish in water, and that certainly had to be a sign of trust in spite of the snake. You simply didn't let yourself get intoxicated around men like this unless you accorded them some form of trust.

"It's a wonder he hasn't eaten your guards yet."

I smirked at that and spared a glance to the large beast slithering across the floor to coil up under the sun light peeking in lines from the window. Funny, it had never occurred for me to be afraid of it. I knew it could move faster then my own bullets, but I'd learned other skills during the years and I'd also met many who would put such thick scales and sharp teeth to the status of a child's plaything with a look. It wasn't a matter of respect. It was simply a matter of knowing which was worse and knowing when the lesser evil was the least threatening.

"Zabuza can quite take care of himself. He feeds them often enough." My employer leaned back over his couch, his taste in flowing robes spreading out around him. He was thin, abnormally so, reminding one of the girls from high school who spent their lunch hours throwing up whatever unlucky food happened to get into their systems. His skin was pale from little to no direct sunlight and his hair stood starkly out in contrast, emphasizing the otherwise light purple bags under his eyes from whatever medicinal delicacies his position accorded him. Whatever they were they'd worn his voice down to the rasp of a man much older then himself, hinting at spending the rest of his life in a hospital. He did appear sickly to many, but with the best doctors money could buy he could afford to be careless with his body. And what threats the doctors couldn't take care of.. Well, that's where my job came in. Orochimaru wasn't the type to leave any corner unprotected or covered.

"I see. Well, down to business, shall we? I have beauties warming my bed at home and wouldn't want to miss out on the fun should they get restless." Jiraiya set down his glass and his face sobered save for the pinkish tint to his cheeks. In contrast to my employer, he was an older man who somehow managed to keep a youthful face though his hair grayed and his body reacted slower with time. He often sat hunched over, as now, his wiry gray hair crawling down his back in uneven cuts. The suit he wore didn't fit his stance and looked forced on him, especially with the cocky and lecherous smile which usually slid across his face. "Now, as promised, I have your gift."

Orochimaru allowed an amused smile to cross his face, his expression resembling that of a parent humoring a child. "I have no interest in your little female toys, old friend. You know that."

Jiraiya snorted. "I know you better then that. Give me some more credit, and tell that walking brick of muscle to open the door and let him in."

I glanced to Orochimaru, waiting for his approval. Seeing him nod his head, I turned and opened the door, waiting for whatever might be outside. Jiraiya had a habit of asking favors and then returning gifts soon after. I had a feeling he enjoyed the gift giving more then he needed the favors, but then it wasn't my job to ask questions about their business. I simply guarded the door and shot down any who weren't welcome or who over stepped their bounds. Only a small part of me was curious to see what this gift was. Last time it had been two girls who were too young to drive. They'd simply been looked at then passed on, since my employer seemed to have no interest in anything which didn't have scales covering its body.

The 'gift' who stepped into the room this time, was an eye catcher to say the least. This one looked younger then the previous, though not by much. Her body was slight and she walked with silent steps, only the whisper of soft bare feet across the floor. Small silver and cold chains, coiled together, denoted her status to this end of the world and the one laced across her neck could hardly be called a collar, though that was exactly what it was, hidden beneath her thin wisps of hair.

The rest of her hair was tied to the top of her head, several bits escaping down her back in a style that managed to look half-assed and planned at the same time, perfectly matching the thin robe like piece which hugged her body. She was obviously dressed to match my employer, perhaps even in a mocking fashion, but the beauty had to make it hard to be insulted. Girls like this weren't natural and certainly had a talent for exciting any who still had the function or the desire, myself included. I caught a glimpse of cool blue eyes as she passed me, looking far too pure for any in this corner of the city. If she'd lost her way, she'd stumbled into the wrong room.

For his part, Orochimaru did a wonderful job of restraining himself. Even I, who'd been under his employ for a good half of my life now, knew this sort of thing rarely interested him. And yet, even he couldn't resist the new 'toy' placed in front of him. I watched as he sat up and reached behind the girl's head, snapping the small chain there to let her hair spill over her back. The girl, for her part, made no movement to step back or retreat. She was either too scared or too well trained in her role.

"You know I don't favor girls like you do, old friend," he used the words harshly, managing to turn them with a tilt of his tongue into an insult. Jiraiya took it all in stride.

"That's a good thing, considering this isn't a girl."

The interest wasn't hidden on his face now and I watched Orochimaru's eyes travel over the boy who stood before him. I saw interest in those eyes and couldn't help the surprise in my own. Perhaps Jiraiya wasn't so much of an imbecile after all. His gifts never seemed to hit the mark. But this one seemed right on target.

"Show him, Haku."

The boy turned his back to Orochimaru and I could finally see his face more to my liking. After being told the truth, I could see the resemblance now. Hidden within his features, were that of a child perhaps almost too asexual to be called either yet. Calling him a child was unfair though, because one could see he was just on the edge of his teenage years, soon to leave them behind for whatever life lay ahead. A hint of manhood was barely visible in his face and I could tell he was one of those who would attract attention from both sexes, simply because he did such a good job of balancing on the rope in between.

As I let my own eyes roam over him and learn what he was, the boy undid the front of his robe-like outfit. The smooth cloth slipped off his shoulders, trailing down to be caught only at his waist, as he leaned his head forward and swept the long hair to one side. The movements were a show in their own right, and yet only a teaser for the magnificence revealed beneath. Back in the old days, when men like these two ruled behind the scenes in most of the countries, their backs had been painted with elaborate designs to denote rank and honor and the ability to withstand the hours of painstaking needle work each corner of skin took. Such designs were threatening and honorable, but never an art such as this.

Painted in ink across this boy's entire back, was the most magnificent of designs ever fashioned on human skin. The ink shown bright and vibrant over his skin, detailing serpentine designs in a classic and decorative manner that curled down beneath the waist into the robes. One could only wonder how far down the design went, and the details were far too numerous to see even in a day's look. This was a work of art, cast upon living flesh and moving with each breath as if the design itself were alive.

Even Orochimaru couldn't hold back his reaction and it was no surprise to see him lean forward and dance his finger over the design, leaning forward to brush his lips against it, as if it were real enough to taste. I watched the boy's eye close as he let out a soft breath, silently communicating that he'd obtained a taste for such light caresses. Jiraiya's expression tilted into something unreadable.

"You seem to like this one."

Orochimaru moved to stand up, his hands still trailing over the boy's back, eliciting soft trembles to travel over his skin. "I'll consider keeping it as payment."

Jiraiya smirked. "I told you I'd find one you liked. Didn't I, Zabuza?"

I found myself nodding, realizing my eyes weren't even on the guest and hadn't been for quite some time. I'd neglected my duties so easily and only now realized my mistake. Had Jiraiya had plans to make a kill or even wound Orochimaru, I would have missed it. All because of a young slave boy who had the most delicious habit of being able to remain completely silent and yet show feelings of pleasure louder then any sound upon his face.

I frowned.

I hated distractions. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Warnings: Lemon!

One could not brag at owning a fancier bedroom then this. For a place set upon the top floor of a large business building clad in metal and steal, looking over the city, a room such as this seemed to be a mirage. When you looked at the sharp outer design of the building and the stiff emotionless stance of those who worked inside - myself included - seeing trails upon trails of draped fabric and tropical plants just seemed far too much and occasionally I still found myself blinking at the change. Stepping from the cold and dead hallway into this jungle fashioned of fabric and dull lights hardly seemed right, no matter how many times I had done it.

True to his preference and obsession with the scaled creatures, my employer's room took it all to the extreme. Cloth covered every inch of the room, draping from the ceiling in long coils that resembled vines and large, old gnarled tree trunks. A oddly shaped bed situated itself in the center of the room, set upon a small ride platform, with canopy sides curving up and jutting out in all angles, creating branches for his favored pets to sleep on and sun themselves beneath the dim but warm lights which scattered the room with illumination. One had to be careful where one tread in this room, thanks to it being the favorite haven of his pets. Only a fool would sleep so soundly in a room crawling with these creatures, or perhaps that was why he never seemed worried about death at the hands of others, when it seemed to be his bedmate every night.

The boy, however, was a different matter. However well he'd been trained in his new position, years of training could never stop gut reaction. I wasn't surprised to see him stop at the door behind my employer and pull the robe a bit closer around his body. Only a few snakes were visible, slithering across the floor, a single venturing to nap on the bed, but the room only served to emphasize their presence. No matter how much one might have liked snakes, there was a world of difference about them when you moved into their territory.

"Come here, boy."

I watched Haku's eyes flicker to my employer, who'd cleared off the bed, and then the boy slowly stepped forward. I closed the door behind me and stood in my normal place near it, crossing my arms and waiting for this night to be over.

One might think it was foolish, and certainly others would be uncomfortable, but Orochimaru was good at staying alive. He rarely drank and his senses seemed to be always at their peek, save during one activity. One could hardly have sex and be aware of all their surroundings all the time. So, as odd as it sounded, my duties included guarding his door from the inside while he did whatever his body wanted to do with his chosen partner of the night. I served a double purpose of guarding him from anything that might try to come in, and also from any thing that might just happen to pose as a bed toy to seek his death. None had tried such a thing, but Orochimaru hadn't gotten where he was today by being overconfident.

Watching two people have sex in the strange room had never been my style of things and usually I was quite happy to pay attention to every other detail in the room, making sure that there wasn't a single disturbance. Tonight, however, I couldn't help but watch as the boy made his way to the bed and let his robes slip down his body to pool gently at his feet. My eyes, along with Orochimaru's, were greeted with the design once more, and this time the dim lighting only seemed to emphasize its detail.

Curved lines, shapes and faces, creating a scene perhaps out of an old fashioned story book, crossed his back, flowed over his rear and ended in trailing wisps over that middle ground where his thighs began. One could spend years looking at the design and never seen all the details. His pale smooth skin was the perfect canvas, begging to be touched and caressed over every inch, as if the design itself could react and actually craved the touches.

Hands slid over his back and I watched as he boy shivered, his lips parting to let out a soft breath of pleasure. He took a step forward to keep his balance and a soft whimper escaped his lips as the hand ventured between his legs, seeming to tease inside of him.

"A fine gift indeed. You've never been taken before, have you."

"No, sir," the boy's voice was a whisper and only seemed to add to the former illusion of him being a her. He was soft spoken, vulnerable in the most delicious way and I even found myself imagining I was closer to him, my own hands sliding over his decorated body, rather then just watching from a corner.

For once, one small moment, I allowed myself the distractions.

The boy turned his head to look at the man touching him, a wary look in his eyes, before nodding and giving permission to something that would never within his power to choose. And yet, just the action of it seeming to be consented, made the whole act that much more desirable and my body began to ache as I watched him move, turning to slide back onto the bed, his pale skin accented against the lush forest green.

He lay on his stomach, his hair escaping out of sight over one shoulder and the markings displayed for all to see. He'd turned his head, not looking at the one standing behind him, and I could see his body trembling, obviously not knowing what to expect. And when the sickly pale hands caressed his inked back, his reactions were louder then a voice could ever be. Each touch and caress brought a wave of pleasure through his body which he communicated in the movements of one who was experiencing something completely new. The most delicious sound I'd ever heard escaped his lips as a finger slide in side him, and his body stiffened. Haku looked back in surprise, his eyes sliding shut and a light moan escaping his lips as Orochimaru began to move his fingers inside him.

I shouldn't have been watching and I certainly shouldn't have been turned on by such an act. Sex and love making, though this certainly wasn't that, wasn't something that others watched. Years of being raised in a traditional family with one father, one mother, one son and one dog had engrained certain beliefs in me that would never go away, no matter how forced. One simply did not watch others have sex, and certainly not in a stiff and unfeeling manner. It never even occurred to me of the age difference between the two, or even the fact that they were two males, as my mind seemed set on the complete and utter wrongness of my watching this act.

Not just watching, but reacting.

My body felt stiff and hard, in more places then one, and I found myself hard pressed to not fidget against the wall. I could feel the blood pumping in my veins, emphasized in my throat and groin, to a warmth that was comfortable and painful at the same time. My hands ached, but I couldn't tell which they wanted to touch more, even if I had a suspicion it was the young body reacting upon the bed. It took nearly every trained inch of my body to not react more then I was. My mind screamed at me to move forward, and of all things, join in their erotic dance. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to make him react like that. I wanted to feel him writhe in my hands as I touched places which had never been touched before in his life.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I closed my eyes and took a set of long breaths, as long and as slow as I could take them without drawing attention to myself. I shifted my stance and tried my best to calm myself down, focusing my mind on my job. Focusing my mind more on what would happen if I didn't complete my job.

Normal jobs you had the risk of being fired or demoted for a day's worth of slacking. Most jobs you could get away with it and probably not even bat an eye as you sat in your small cramped office looking at porn on the company connection when you should be filing reports on graphs and statistics. Normal jobs you worried about your pay and whether or not Temari was sleeping with Iruka and if the secretary was wearing such a short skirt because she had a midnight date with the manager in the janitor's closet. Normal jobs consisted of red pens and punch cards, and Friday nights spent drinking and bitching about your boss.

At my job I was awake, ever hour I could be. At my job Temari wore too thick of a jacket and had to be patted down for weapons, not because I wanted to feel her breasts. At my job Iruka carried a large knife down the spine of his back, hidden behind his long back shirt which was almost too tight to hide anything. The secretary had hand guns next to her razor sharp knife which only mildly resembled a nail file and the janitor's closet was full of ammunition and grenades for oddly placed assassination attempts. You didn't get demoted in my job, you got buried literally. Who would have thought that eighteen years of school teachers breathing down my neck and annoyances passing me in the halls would lead to a place like this.

Getting turned on by something as simple as this and neglecting my duties could get many more then one man killed. I had no great love for the human race, and certainly not for the particular breed that seemed to live in this part of society, but a job was a job and I had my own to do. I certainly couldn't let myself get distracted by such a simple little thing as a girly looking tattooed virgin boy who wasn't even old enough to drink yet.

A startled cry filled the air and my eyes snapped open, only to be greeted with the new sight before me. Haku and Orochimaru had moved, and now the boy was lying on the bed, on his stomach, facing me as he gripped at the bed sheets and sweat sparkled across his body. His hair was scattered about him, his eyes shut tightly and sounds coming from his mouth, dancing between pain and pleasure as the one behind him moved inside his body. I could see the thrusts echoed in his own movements as he clutched the blankets with white knuckles, crying out, his voice filling the room.

No one should have ever looked that good being taken.

Certainly not a young boy like this.

I found my eyes locked on his face, his expressions and his movements, my entire attention centered on him so much that I could almost swear I could feel him moving as if I were under him and not the bed. I could feel those nails and fingers digging into my shoulders as his body rocked against mine, completely in the sway of what he was feeling for the first time, the sensations engulfing his entire being. I could feel his body tremble and his struggle to keep breathing as the feeling inside him built, starting as a low ache in his body, spreading in waves of hot pleasure to course over his sweat sprinkled skin.

A low raspy moan punctuated the moment as the boy jerked, his entire body spasming as it finally let go of the pleasure it had been attempting to control. His own voice attempted to come out, but came too fast and he choked on it, screaming wordlessly into the room before dropping back on the bed and curling into a ball, shivering as he tried to regain control of his body from the rampant feelings.

I watched him survey his handiwork in the boy before him. My employer had a true serpentine look on his face, the smile showing him to be sated and content with his new… conquest.

A sick feeling grew in my own stomach, hiding its true origins.

Somehow, and I don't even know how I managed, but I apparently was my calm and contained self again when he looked up at me, because he gave no indication that I'd shown anything more then I usually did. In a rush of fabric he pulled his own robe back on and nodded from me to the boy.

"Take him to a room. I will be keeping this one."

I nodded and moved to the bed, amazing myself with my ability to walk, despite the rather hard obstacle which had now appeared to hinder me. Without a second thought I picked the boy up and tossed a blanket around him to hide his nakedness, lifting him into my arms. To my surprise he seemed to fold against my body, his hands unclenching for just a moment so they could clench at my shirt as he still struggled to calm himself down. I did my best not to pay attention to him as I stepped out of the door, locking it behind me.

This part I was used to. Orochimaru never let his toys or one night stands sleep in the same room as him. Perhaps his safety measures bordered on paranoia really, but it was his way. I was used to carrying a trembling boy or woman out of the room as they still recovered from the night's activities. So much in fact, that I was almost on auto pilot, even with this one.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

Perhaps in great contrast, my quarters were a simple room looking like it was taken out of a newly graduated college apartment crossed with a low paying and low caring inhabitant. I lived on my job sight and my services paid for room and board along with anything else I really wanted, but I pleased my employer by asking for little more as there was little else I cared about. I liked my guns and I liked my weapons, not to mention the ability to learn new skills and the opportunity to test them. I didn't need much else then that and a bed, and my room certainly reflected the simplicity in my life.

My room seemed paler as I dropped the boy onto the bed and went about trying to find him some sort of clothing. I was used to this part too and never even accorded it a second thought as I managed to find an old shirt of my own, which I tossed over to him. In the morning he would be treated like a proper guest and probably be given a room of his own, but for tonight this was more of a test then anything else. If this boy were an assassin he probably wouldn't sit through this treatment. No one who was just there for a simple hit would. I would be watching him all night, and if he passed an entire night of scrutiny, then he was more likely to be trusted. But everyone in places like this were watched, even myself.

When I turned back I found the boy sitting up timidly, clutching the shirt to the front of his body as his eyes wandered the room. I recognized the look as those that appeared on all their faces during the nights like this, but this time it did manage to bother me. He was young and he was scared, that much was obvious.

Why was I feeling pity for such a young boy? "Did I do something wrong?" He asked softly, his eyes still moving around the room. He seemed afraid to look right at me, which didn't surprise me at all. I wasn't exactly the most friendly of people, probably closer to the least.

"He doesn't let anyone sleep with him. You will be staying here for the night"

This time the boy's eyes did settle on me and what he'd been thinking was easy to read across his face. He was afraid he was being passed over to me next.

"I have no interest in little boys," I said, rather harshly, as an after thought. Turning away from him I moved over to the bathroom to slip into my own clothes to sleep for the night. I didn't relish the idea of sleeping in the same bed as him, but I had never quite been able to manage actual sleep while sitting down or crouching in the corner like you saw in the movies. The human body just wasn't built to sleep like that and while I could fake it with the best, it always left me drowsy and slowed my reactions the next day. When I could sleep in a bed, I did, no matter who ended up sleeping next to me.

So how would tonight be? I allowed myself a small glance in the mirror, taking a moment to look at my rough and uncaring face, before turning to change into my own clothes. I was about to climb into bed and attempt to fall asleep next to a young boy, who moments ago, had almost succeeded in turning me against my carefully trained instincts. I was inviting danger, there was no doubt about that. It was the first time in years that my near perfect self-control had failed me, all at the hands of a boy who never even should have given me a second thought. I had a job to do, a job which I had done for years. Never once had this happened before and frankly, I was at a bit of a loss of what to do.

I was brought out of my thoughts by a timid knock on the door. Splashing my face with warm water just out of habit, I turned and opened the door, only to find the boy standing there looking to be drowning in my shirt. It was an odd look for him really, to see him standing there in a black shirt where the design had long sense faded into a red and green cracked blob on the front. I couldn't even remember what it had been. His hair was pulled back in a quick braid that was already slipping out of place and he stood on his feet lightly, shifting back and forth nervously.

Was it just me or did he look about as nervous as I felt.

"What?" No one would ever call me polite.

"Can I… use the shower?" He asked softly. He didn't look afraid of me anymore and I realized that I might have misread his expression before. More then anything else he seemed to think that this was as awkward as I thought it was. How ironic.

I shrugged and stepped past him out of the bathroom, silently waving him in as I went about my sad excuse for a nightly ritual. I inspected the room to make sure I knew where everything was and made sure any sort of weapons were safely tucked away in places that couldn't be reached without significant noise to wake me. I tossed my own clothes down the small laundry chute and dropped back on the bed, just in time to hear the water start running in the bathroom.

He was taking a shower.

He was standing in the bathroom, with the warm water turned on, the steam slowly fogging up the clear glass and mirrors as the drops slid down his body. His hair was matted against his skin, darker now then it had been - which almost wasn't possible. The water was caressing over his marked back, bringing the colors out even more vibrant then before, almost to the point that they had to be alive. And his smooth skin… wet like that…

I groaned and rolled over in the bed, feeling my body stiffen up again. All I was doing was listening to water run in the bathroom and suddenly my body was deciding to paint incredibly vivid pictures in my mind. I could feel my skin ache again, and if I wasn't so unsure about how long he'd be in the shower the thought of relieving myself sounded mighty appealing.

Damn young attractive boys and damn my body which suddenly decided it wanted something it couldn't ever have. The worst ever possible time for anything like this to happen.

I'd never been attracted to boys. Hell, for the majority of my life I'd never been attracted to women. In school they'd all had their own things to worry about and the age old separations of girls and their shopping and gossiping on one side with boys and their cars and sports on the other suited me just fine. I'd never been attracted to those thin creatures with long hair and the confounding obsession with making themselves thinner and painting their faces with all sorts of cream and powder until you wondered if there was even a face under all that. They weren't in my range of interest and I certainly wasn't in theirs. We got along by not acknowledging each other and all seemed right with the world.

Men had never entered my sexual line of sight either. Any man will admit, myself included, that there are some men out there who just have to be admired either from the way they hold themselves mentally or the way they display themselves physically. There were good looking men out there and that could be taken as attractive or impressive, however you wanted to take it. But however you wanted to take it, they just never entered my sexual vision either. Sex just wasn't a priority on my list, it never had been.

So why the hell was this little boy driving me so insane?

I listened to the water shut off behind me and forced myself to relax as much as I could, which was a pretty pathetic attempt really. A part of my mind wondered if he'd step out of the bathroom naked and soaked, dripping from head to toe and ask me where the towels were…

That thought was cut off as I heard him quietly open and close the small amount of cupboards there were in the bathroom. He stopped after a moment and I assumed he'd found the towels, because a second later I could hear him step back into the bedroom, accompanied by the sound of a towel rubbing through his hair.

"Umm…"

"There's only one bed, unless you'd prefer the floor," my voice was harsh and sharp. Worse then I thought it would be, but not really strange considering my body's current condition.

Take the floor, I muttered silently, still not facing him. I was wearing my own night clothes and under the covers, but I still felt completely exposed when it came to him. What the hell was with my body right now?

And he, for his part, was not making this easier. He stood there for a long moment, not answering at all, then I felt the bed room as he climbed in beside me and slid under the covers. I opened my mouth to snap out an order for him to sleep on the floor, but instead my voice was choked down as I breathed in his scent, and what little rational thought I had about him sleep next to me evaporated into the air.

He smelled sweet, with a tint of salt, the kind of scent the hinted of a strange after taste, the kind that soda always left you with so you'd be tempted to open the next can even if you weren't thirsty. The tingle in the back of your throat when your mother was cooking, telling you its almost ready, with a smell so heady that you could almost taste it and you wanted to taste it. Taste more of it, even when your stomach was full well past the brim.

Before I even knew what I was doing I'd rolled over and was looking down on him, my eyes traveling over his body.

He was still wet from the shower, a few lone drops of water clinging covertly to his skin where the towel had missed. His hair scattered over his face, showing now that it was quite longer then his shoulders and had the habit of curling just a bit at the ends when it was wet, pasted across his skin like long thin lines of black ink, as if his tattoo had grown in the water and begun to spread across the rest of his unmarked body. He was curled up under the blanket, wearing the large t-shirt I'd tossed at him, his eyes closed as he entertained whatever thoughts flowed through his mind.

What did one think about after spending a night, probably his first night, like that and then ending up in bed next to a character like me?

Did he think I was going to touch him next? In spite of what I'd said earlier? Or could he sense my real thoughts?

Could he tell how my hands ached to trace those markings on his back? How my lips ached to taste his wet skin? How I ached to breathe in his scent and pull him against my body? Could he feel exactly how I was reacting to seeing him lay there like that? In spite of seeing what had been done to him only moments before, the posture of his body now - curled into a tight ball as if to protect himself - made him only that much more enticing. I wanted to pull him against my body this time, see him react to my touches and not someone else's. I wanted to feel him shudder against me and cling to my body as he lost his own control.

Gods I wanted him.

I couldn't remember wanting anything this much before in my life.

It was going to be a very, very long night.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Morning took its own goddamn, sweet time in coming. By the time I could see the sun peeking through the closed shades, I realized I was still awake and had really only slept for a precious few moments and now I had an entire day ahead of me before I could sleep again. My only saving grace was that the boy was hurried out of my room by one of his other workers - this time a female with a stern expression and a love for chewing of toothpicks - and I was left to myself for a few moments of undisturbed sleep before I was expected to get up for my job.

I suppose I could have slept in. No one had ever told me that I needed to get up at a certain hour, really. I just preferred to get the majority of my daily duties completely out of the way before noon, so I wouldn't be swamped with a late night if, by chance, my employer needed my services for something that wasn't specified on his itinerary. Weapons check in the morning, an hour or two of practice if I had time, and checking with security to make sure everything was in order before noon. It didn't sound like much, but it filled my day and my days flowed by relatively fast. With the exception of the boy, my days generally blurred together as they would at any job.

When you get down to the basics, I suppose, being a hired bodyguard and occasional assassin really wasn't much different from any other job. It just got a little messier and the red on your shirt? That wasn't going to be an ink stain.

I finally managed to pull myself out of bed, my expression glaring at the world and cursing it for its sadistic sense of humor. I didn't even pray for them to make it so the boy got his own room and wouldn't sleep near me any more, because whoever ran things up there was a sadistic little woman. She would make things worse for me just to amuse herself, that I knew for sure. It was how life worked. So I contented myself with a glare aimed at the general world and went to take a shower and brush my teeth.

The building we were in really couldn't be called an office building. To the rest of the world it looked like a simple skyscraper, raising up from the streets in a mix of concrete, metal and glass, perfectly disguised between other tall buildings which looked almost exactly the same. The front lobby was the same as any other and kept up appearances for any who cared to wonder what really happened beyond the revolving glass doors. That's not to say that there was no business conducted here, of course not. It was a business like many others with numbers and figures and sales to place it high in the markets and fall out of my realm of expertise. I could probably find out more information, but it really didn't matter to me, as it didn't directly figure into my job.  
A good portion of the bottom floors were for business related activities and rarely visited by myself since it was mostly for the other workers. This was the part of the building filled with men in business suits, carrying briefcases and women rushing between phones and coffee machines. The perfect cover of a simple office building that no one really cared about.

The higher levels were a closed off area, basically consisting of apartments and living spaces for those who were extra close in the company. The elevator stopped automatically before it reached the top floors unless you had a key to bypass the mechanism and most of the employees below never saw the light of what lay above. It wasn't there business and it didn't concern them, so they never saw.

The roof, by far, was the cream of the building. The top floor was taken up solely by the spacious quarters of my employer, with doorways leading out to a lavish and expensive garden on the roof, made of exotic plants that could grow at such a height, and those that couldn't were kept safely inside of a large green house which covered nearly half of the large area. It was really quite impressive, there was just the issue that very few actually got to see it. 

I suppose I could be called one of the lucky ones.

Few ever made it up that high in the company or the building. That's just how things worked in this version of the world. It was more like a very pristine family then a work place. You were either in with the powerful patriarch or you weren't. If you weren't you only had an idea of what you were missing, a rumor and an inkling. If you learned more then that?

Well, once again, that was my job.

The elevator door sounded its normal ring and opened, spreading out the lobby before me. I spared it a glance, only to know for sure that it was empty save for the front desk, then walked over to the line of security monitors and their caretaker.

"How'd you sleep last night?"

I frowned at the man sitting in front of me and considered, as I did almost every morning, if I could actually get away with knocking him off. He was annoying and always had some smartass comment in the morning, because he said I amused him. I could never tell if that was a compliment or a complaint given his attitude. But it seemed that it meant he 'didn't mind' me. 

"Same as always." I moved over and picked up the daily guest book, scanning over the entries and trying to avoid eye contact with him.

He was younger then myself, fresh out of high school or wherever one might find people of his kind. He still sported high school-esque clothing with a shirt that could have easily been mistaken for fishnet because of its texture, covered by a light and flimsy over shirt that really seemed to serve no other purpose then to cover the gun he actually wore on the job. Black jeans topped off the outfit along with a pony tail in hair that was actually so short that it caused it to stick up instead of holding it back. He had an ever-present bored expression on his face and it was there now, even as he made his usual morning smartass comment.

"How's the new kid?"

I frowned at him. Shikamaru's job was to watch all the monitors and make sure the building stayed boring and untroublesome, in his own words. He hated troublesome things, and to him everything was troublesome except watching something like the clouds float through the sky. He seemed like one of those slackers that would never get anything done and would never be able to hold a job because of his view of the world, when in reality he was perfect for the job. In spite of his boredom he was incredibly smart, he just needed the right motivation.

His motivation this morning seemed to be wanting to piss me off.

"Where is he now?" I countered, without even realizing it. I didn't want to answer how the new boy was, I didn't trust myself to not say something to reveal my actions or thoughts last night. Knowing him, he would have caught with even the smallest hint. But then, he probably caught my evasion as well.

"He's up in the garden, acting all girl-like. Is he planning on keeping this kid around? Because if so, it's going to be real troublesome."

"I'm sure you'll survive." I muttered, reading over the guest list. No one interesting was noted, least not any of the names I knew to look out for. Granted one would think that a well-known enemy of the company, or of Orochimaru himself, wouldn't be stupid enough to sign their name in a little guest book, but if there was one thing I'd learned in this job it was to never underestimate the stupidity of men with lots of money.

I closed the book and looked up at Shikamaru, finding him leaning back in the chair, his eyes wandering to the ceiling as the lights glinted off his ear-loops from the angle. He really did look too young for this job. "Anything interesting last night?" I asked.

"Other then you having to stand in on another one of those creepy bedroom snake sex scenes, nope." He randomly started twirling a pencil in his hands, giving himself something to do. "The old drunk left and managed to spill only a little of his drink on the way out and was able stand up right until a taxi came to get him. The rest you know." His familiar shrug followed the comments and he leaned back farther in the chair, tilting it dangerously close to falling over. "And the boss wants to see you in his office." With that he sat back up and glanced to the garden screen, his eyes narrowing as he watched the images.

I could see the boy wandering in the greenhouse. The picture wasn't the best, but it was enough to identify a face, least he could, which was all that really mattered. I could tell the boy was dressed in another fancy kimono-type outfit, his hair pulled back intricately on his head-

"I'll go up and see him now." I turned away from the screen a bit too quickly, because I know he saw. Nothing passed his notice and Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at me, actually looking interested for a second.

The last thing anyone ever wanted was for Shikamaru to be interested in them. Damnit.

I had a feeling I'd be pestered about this tomorrow, if not tonight if my job required me to come back down to the front. I wasn't looking forward to any questions he might have, but at least I had time to come up with something, or practice a look of disinterest. Sometimes I wondered if Shikamaru wouldn't have done better as some kind of leader of an inquisition. He was just too good at what he did for the age he was. 

The elevator doors closed and I turned my key, selecting the top floor, then settled back for the long ride.

How would I explain this to anyone? When I thought about it, there wasn't really much to explain. I'd been caught by a kid who was sent to my employer to obviously be someone to be used in such a manner. Apparently he was quite good because he was staying, and because he occupied my mind so much. 

I didn't like it.

He was a distraction, and I hated distractions, because they endangered my job and my life. Yes, that was the order of my priorities. However, since I couldn't knock the kid off like a simple enemy, I would just have to deal with the issue in other ways. That meant staying away from him. Yes, I reassured myself, that meant completely and totally staying away from him as much as possible.

Funny, usually when I set my mind on something like that the world would turn around and spite me by doing something like having him at the door when the elevator finally stopped. I waited, actually expecting that to be what I would see. But when the doors opened, I found myself in an empty hallway with no one to bother me.

Maybe the old grandma up there who controlled everything with her wrinkled little hands had finally decided to give me a break.

I headed down the hallway to his office.

Much like the night before, Orochimaru's office looked no different. It was spacious, and large, like most other rooms in his life seemed to be. A border of snakes were painted along the bottom of the walls, lining the room and catering to his obsession in such a way that any important newcomers wouldn't be weirded out and probably wouldn't even notice until they knew him well enough to know better. Sparsely decorated with a single desk and two couches parallel to each other with a table in between, nothing else filled the room save for a pair of closed front bookshelves. To a new comer, I suppose, it looked completely business-like and to the point. Orochimaru's eccentricities were limited to his other rooms and his other life, so to speak. He, along with the others in his trade I'm sure, was quite good at balancing two lives so that if you didn't know any better, he could have easily been two different people who just happened to pass on the street when meal times ran a bit late and schedules were required to slightly deviate.

Upon entering the room, I found him sitting at his desk, dressed in a pressed business suit, with another guest. This guest, however, was sitting on the edge of the desk itself, her legs crossed and showing off her very… interesting attire. She was the opposite side of the coin to him and everything about her screamed in a clashing fashion with his business suit. She was the other body guard in his hire, going by the name of Anko, which certainly wasn't her real name. 

I had her real name tucked away somewhere in the back of my mind, but it really wasn't that important at the moment. My only thought was the annoyance from her sassy little grin that was aimed at me and the ever-present tooth-pick in her mouth. Did I mention that any good bodyguard almost never liked the other bodyguards who also received their paychecks from the same man? We were forever evaluating each other's skills and works, and for some reason, the other bodyguards always came up short.

Course, that could simply be the inherent competition in the job itself. But reguardless, Anko and I did not get along.

"Good morning sunshine," she said, giving a small wave to me. I made a point of not even looking at her and directing my eyes directly to my employer. Anko was like one of his snakes to me, there for looks and show. She did little much else save for appear quite threatening when needed to those who didn't know her. She served no purpose in my book and I made sure she knew that, by according her about as much attention as she deserved.

"You needed me." I directed the comment to my employer. It wasn't a question, because he obviously needed me for something or he wouldn't have given the message to Shikamaru, rather it was just a way to break the silence and prove my unacknowledgement of Anko a bit more.

Orochimaru nodded and looked down, moving papers around on his desk, before meeting my eyes again. "I have business out of town, which Anko will help me take care of. In the meantime I want you to watch over my new little… toy." I watched his lips twist into a sick little smile as he said the word and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who he considered his new toy. If there was any doubt that he wouldn't be keeping the boy, it was gone now. Haku was staying.

Goddamnit.

I nodded. "How long?"

"A week or so," he waves the comment away with a pale hand, his painted nails standing out in sharp contrast to his skin. "It could extend past that depending on the details. I'll keep you informed as always."

"Don't worry, Zabu, I'll take good care of him."

I ignored Anko, but allowed myself a moment of picturing what would happen if she ever swallowed one of those toothpicks and choked on it. I hated her little nicknames for me. When I was satisfied with the image I nodded to Orochimaru. "Understood."

He nodded back and that was my signal to leave them to whatever plans they had to make… or whatever distractions he wanted from her. 

"Take good care of him, Zabuza. I don't want you to let him out of your sight at all. Period. I want him taken care of until I come back."

I paused for a moment, simply to nod and repeat my firm 'understood', then left the room a tad quicker.

As I stepped out I was sure that old hag above was laughing her ass off, and I promised myself that if I ever met her, I'd be sure that she became the target of all the annoyances in my life that I'd managed to suppress until now.


	5. Chapter 5

Slave Boy  
by Snow Tigra  
ZabuzaxHaku 

Summary: Zabuza's worked for his share of unsightly characters. But when his current boss gets a boy as a 'gift' he finds himself forgetting his current job and getting distracted by this boy.

Unlike the rest of the building, a spiral staircase led to the upper most area of the roof, where the garden and green house resided.

In medieval times, spiral staircases were used to hinder attackers, allowing right-handed fighters the advantage of arm room as they defended the higher ground. Perhaps that was the reason so many of them were cramped and that style had continued onto this day in many houses, as a way to both save space and provide an attractive, if claustrophobic, decoration which led to the top of the house and usually a place to keep one's valuables.

The spiral case which led up to the gardens wasn't like this at all. Standing out in stark contrast, almost clashing with its surroundings, the metal case was large enough to accompany two, maybe three people walking up side by side. Space and size wasn't an issue and the metal twined railings could have been vines or snakes, depending on the viewer's preference. It was almost as if part of the garden's décor had leaked onto the floor below, creating the staircase in a room of steal and concrete. It was the focal point of the room, standing out for all to see. Perhaps it was a shame that it had such a limited audience.

I climbed the stairs with a sense of dread, something my mind wasn't particularly familiar with, and it only made me more uncomfortable. For a week, at least, I had been sentenced to the particularly unpleasant fate of babysitting the new 'toy' my employer had acquired. I was to stay with him throughout the entire day and entire night, never letting him out of my sight and according him the same protection which Orochimaru had hired for himself.

It wouldn't have been a problem if Haku were as unattractive, and dare I say, repulsive as his new owner.

That thought was brought out in full color as I stepped into the garden and was greeted with the sight of the boy, framed by the many exotic plants and foreign surroundings. He seemed to fit perfectly, whereas I felt like the weed, poised to take over the entire garden, if I so chose.

The t-shirt I'd tossed to him the night before was gone, in favor of a new outfit designed especially for him. The front closed as a normal robe, or perhaps kimono, would close to his neck, with long sleeves that billowed around his arms and yet were short enough as not to hinder his hands. However the back was where the customization lay, as it dropped down from his shoulders, sewn to fit his arms and just barely brush the sides of his back, laying out his markings in full colorful view as if they were a part of the actual outfit. The cloth naturally lay against his body, giving an illusion from the back that it was loose enough to slide away and reveal everything else I knew lay beneath-

I stopped at the top of the stairs and forced myself to clutch the railing until my knuckles turned pearl white. Here began my week of hell.

I stood there for a long time watching him, and I honestly couldn't answer if it was because I liked what I was watching or if I was trying to steel myself into a steady frame of mind. I will answer that I couldn't think, or perhaps it was because I didn't want to.

He was framed by the plants, the colorful flowers and leaves with stained veins looking to be little more then extensions of his markings rather then nature itself. And the greenhouse panes paled in comparison, acting more like the frame around a picture or mirror, keeping in the beauty and perhaps even giving the illusions of shielding it from those who wished to steal it.

Just like my hands itched to do right now.

"Oh, I didn't see you there." The boy turned to me and a smile crossed his face, small and shaky. He was being civil, but it was obvious he still didn't know how to act around me considering the previous circumstances of my watching and his sleeping in my room. I would be flattering myself if I said I was sure he found me threatening, so I didn't. Instead I treated him like I would any other 'guest' in this building: with caution. I assumed I didn't threaten him, then I never became overconfident of my own abilities.

I nodded to him and leaned against the railing, crossing my arms to hide my recovering hand.

The boy watched me for a moment with a quizzical look, obviously trying to decide why I was there. Then his eyes widened a bit in realization. "Am I… supposed to be with him now?"

I must have been fooling myself, but I could have sworn I heard something akin to fear in that voice. Was he afraid of his new… master was too harsh of a word and yet cold enough to fit the reality. This boy wasn't a person, he was a possession and I knew that. His services were viewed like mine, purchased as a commodity with no regard to the actual person performing them, thrown to the side. I accepted that and occasionally enjoyed the release it accorded. To him, from that look, such a thing seemed more like chains around his wrists, bindings holding him to a place he didn't want to be.

I scowled slightly at my thoughts turning sexual at that. I had better control then this!

"No. Orochimaru is leaving on a business trip. He's left you in my charge until he returns."

Relief crossed the boy's face without any effort to be hidden and his smile turned more sincere. A moment later he dismissed it and covered it up. "I'm sorry, I'm still getting used to this," he murmured softly. Then he smiled again, moving to the flowers. "I like it up here… you don't mind me being up here, right?"

I shrugged.

The boy remained silent and I could feel the awkwardness there. I could tell he wasn't sure why I was there, why I was watching him and even if I weren't threatening to him the uneasiness was there. No one liked being watched when they didn't expect it, and even those who expected to be watched and hired such people to do so didn't like being watched all the time. This boy was no exception to the rule and even though I could stand there and not make a sound to disturb him, now that he knew I was watching, his movements and actions were tempered carefully. He didn't know how to act around me.

"I've been told to watch you until he comes back." It shouldn't have mattered to him what I was doing, and it shouldn't have mattered to me what he thought. It shouldn't have. And yet, before I even realized it, I found myself explaining to him why I was there and what I was doing.

The boy hesitated. "All the time?"

I simply nodded, my eyes wandering the garden. He wasn't the only one uncomfortable with this whole situation, but damned if I was going to let him know that nice little fact. I had a job to do and so far my own skills were terribly lacking in this area.

This was a way for me to train myself, a way for me start to get used to him and stop reacting like a horny teenager presented with his first porno magazine. The best way to deal with a distraction was to eliminate it. However, since this little distraction belonged to my employer that was out of the question, so I had to go with the second option, which was to expose myself to the distraction as much as possible until it no longer bothered me.

Now if my mind would just stop making up metaphors with sexual connotation I would be fine.

The boy watched me for a moment longer then nodded on his head and turned away from me to drop into his own thoughts. For a moment I played with the idea that I was a distraction to him as well, but that was simply more amusing then anything else. Why would a simple bed-playmate care about me or be distracted when I was around. It was his job to be distracting, not the other way around.

I settled back against the railing silently. Did I mention it was going to be a long week?

Banishing the thoughts from my mind as much as I could, which was almost impossible, I found a place for myself on a bench and simply tried to relax. We were in one of the safest places in Orochimaru's little business office of a fortress, or at least we were until his so called enemies decided to start renting planes and helicopters to strike back against us, so I could relax at least a little. I allowed myself to sit and try to think about other things… no matter how impossible that was.

My eyes kept wandering over to him, watching him as he stood near the flowers and plants, his attention elsewhere and thinking about things I couldn't even guess at. I couldn't stop looking at him and I couldn't stop being distracted by him. What the hell was wrong with me? I gritted my teeth and leaned my head back, looking at the greenhouse glass roof. I needed to get control of myself-

"Excuse me… Zabuza?"

I frowned and moved, looking at the boy as I found him standing in front of me now.

"Can we… go back to my room? Last night was a long night."

I nodded and stood up, feeling like a horrible baby sitter as I moved to my feet. What was this? Back in elementary school where you asked the teacher if you could go to the bathroom by publicly humiliating yourself in front of the entire class by raising your hand? You don't ask your body guard if you can go somewhere, you just go and expect them to follow. Still, in retrospect, this boy was probably used to being ordered around. So if I was supposed to order him, but yet I was supposed to protect him like my employer… that left both of us in a sort of oxymoronic set of rules.

"You don't ask me where to go kid, I just follow and watch you."

"Oh." He was avoiding looking at me now, his hands tugging just slightly at the front of his outfit as if he wanted to pull up the back and cover himself more. Apparently I was only making matters worse, which just seemed common for me.

Are all kids his age this sensitive? I stepped ahead of him and didn't protest, doing exactly what he seemed to want me to do. I lead him to his room in complete silence, just listening to his quiet foot steps behind me. My instinct and years of training told me not to let him walk behind me but he didn't seem like the type who would ever even consider walking in front of me. I suppose, in the social scale of things, he was technically lower then me and yet I was taking care of him.

I felt like a pet-sitter.

Haku's room was almost as lavish and ridiculous as my employer's, filled with draping cloths and a large bed in the middle, with three closets that probably all held clothes for him. He really was being treated as a pet, a spoiled pet who was given his every wish, but never let off his leash. This wasn't a home, it was a lavishly decorated cage, and the way he moved around the room showed he knew that. He wasn't comfortable here, anyone could tell.

He stepped out of his personal bathroom dressed in a robe which he tied tightly around his body, as if trying to protect himself with the thin fabric. It was the first piece of his own clothing I'd seen him in where his back wasn't free for all to see. He'd also loosely braided his hair behind his head and somehow the action wiped away all the exotic notions which usually surrounded him.

Now he was just a young boy who wore his hair longer then was usual.

"I suppose… you have to stay in the room, don't you?"

I nodded.

Haku hesitated and I could tell what he was thinking was on the tip of his lips, but he just couldn't make himself say it. I waited patiently, just leaning against the wall as he struggled inwardly with his own words.

"The… the bed is big enough for two… I don't mind…"

I raised an eyebrow at that. "You don't think I'll do something?"

He stopped and his eyes darted away from me. He'd thought of that, obviously, but he was torn between being polite and following his own orders, whatever those might be. Knowing my employer, he was probably forbidden from ever using the word 'no' anywhere in his vocabulary which meant that I could do something.

Sleeping in the same bed as the boy I'd been lusting over the last night was not a good idea. And yet, I hated sleeping on the floor. So I was left watching him fidget and try to gain the courage to say what he was going to say again.

It struck me that the boy was going to great lengths to be polite, and it certainly didn't seem like it was born out of fear. I could tell from his eyes that there was a slight fear there, but it seemed to steam from the fact that he was a caged animal and he knew that anyone could do anything with him. And yet, at this one moment when he had a small choice, he was being polite instead of sleeping in the bed by himself as he seemed to prefer. It made me wonder what kind of life he had had before he'd become a fancily wrapped gift.

"I… don't mind," he managed to repeat again.

I simply nodded and stepped over to the bed, making sure the room door was closed. With my steps and agreement I could almost literally see the nervousness disappear from his expression. Another possible angle occurred to me, though I pushed it away quickly. It was foolish to even entertain the idea that what I had decided would actually make the boy feel safe. Such an idea was just inconceivable in this situation.

I shed my over shirt and settled down on the side of the bed facing the door, on my back. He slid into the bed next to me without making a sound save for the small rustling of the blankets. I could feel the mattress move and a small shiver rippled over my body at feeling him lay down just a breath away from my own skin, curled up on his side with his hair spreading over the pillow. A flip of a switch by the bed and the lights were out, the darkness flowing in around us.

For a long moment, I lay there, my eyes open and listening to the silence of his quiet breathing. My eyes slowly became accustomed to the darkness and soon I could make out the cloths on the wall, the room slowly laying itself into focus, devoid of all color. And he lay next to me in bed, not moving, his breaths steady and relaxed, while my own hands clutched just a little at the covers.

Gods, I didn't think I could ache this much to touch someone.

"You can," came his soft voice, drifting to my ear. It was as if he could hear my thoughts and he'd guessed the exact direction they were taking at this moment. I imagine I was fidgeting in the bed, but not this much. Was I really that transparent? Was it really that easy to see the lust the coursing through my body and making me want him so badly? Nearly need to feel him against me, pressed together? I could feel the room grow warmer with the weight of my own thoughts and images. Touching him... being on top of him... taking him...

"You can," he repeated softly, softer then before. "It's... why I'm here."

I took in a short breath, shivering a bit more. Did he have to speak in such a small voice? He sounded so young and innocent, practically begging me. How could I even consider resisting him...

Simple.

I couldn't.

Turning in the bed, I felt all my resolve slide away, leaving nothing between us, not even a simple bed sheet. Without a word I slid closer to him and slipped one arm under his body, brushing my hand over his shoulder. I felt a shiver flow through his own body, perhaps from fear of what I would do, but it only seemed to beg me to move on. My common sense was left on the floor, and I pulled him back across the covers, pressing our bodies against each other and holding him from behind. Then my hands began to wander.

Touching his skin sent electricity through my fingers, flowing through my entire body. The simple saying of absence makes the heart grow fonder took on a new meaning, twisting and turning its way to become that denial made the taking simply delicious. No sooner had I touched his body, then were my hands sliding over him, caressing every inch of skin I could reach as if he was the softest and sweetest thing I had ever touched in my life, and that was exactly what he was. A whimper escaped his throat and he shifted against me, sending another electric jolt of pleasure to my already ecstatic brain.

I was lost.

Author's Note: Due to restrictions the rest of this lemon isn't posted here on If you'd like to read the whole lemon in all it's detail, feel free to visit my page at TONFA. The Official Naruto Fanfiction Archive

(FFN won't let me post a link in here, so check out my profile under 'my page')


	6. Chapter 6

Title: "Slave boy"  
Series: Naruto  
Author: Snow Tigra  
Pairings: ZabuzaxHaku, NarutoxSasukexGaara, OrochimaruxHaku  
Warnings: Yaoi. Pets. Slight age differences, assassins and certain characters being older then we've seen in the series.  
Summary: Zabuza's worked for his share of unsightly characters. But when his current boss gets a boy as a 'gift' he finds himself forgetting his current job and getting destracted by this boy. 

Chapter 6

The next morning had to be the strangest experience in the world. I woke up to the feeling of the bed shifting and swam up to consciousness as I felt the warm, small body against mine slowly slide away. My eyes remained closed, some part of myself begging for the ability to go back to sleep, while the rest of me slowly began to rise. A few minutes passed before I finally opened my eyes, and I was greeted with the sight of that beautiful tattoo as fabric was pulled up around his body, teasingly covering the edges.

Haku had slid out of bed and was now getting dressed.

I couldn't make myself move and actually found no real reason to need to. So instead I just lay there, watching him slowly pull up the kimono and fasten it around his waist so it stayed in place. Tilting his head to one side, exposing an area of his neck which I now knew was quite sensitive, he combed his fingers through his long hair until the tangles finally let themselves loose. The simple act was breathtaking and there was nothing I could do but watch as this boy before me made himself presentable for the day. Everything about the act was so simple, and yet there was nothing that could rival how beautiful it looked... except perhaps the expression of his face as I moved inside of him.

That thought, however pleasurable, shocked me back into awareness and soured my morning. Glaring dangerously at the bed, I tossed back the covers and walked to the bathroom, not caring about my naked state. The boy had seen me last night and he would survive long enough for me to make it to the bathroom and splash some water across my face.

I wasn't surprised when, like a good little pet, he didn't say one word.

While in the bathroom, after waking myself up to full awareness with a handful of icy water, I regarded myself in the mirror.

Just what the hell were you thinking?

My reflection didn't answer me back, not that I'd really expected it to, and instead I was just left looking into my own silent and hardened eyes. Memories of the night before seemed all too ready to jump forward and help me relive the moment, urging me to march through that door and shove him back onto the bed, tearing his clothes away. I entertained the guilty thought for a split second as I heard him sit on the edge of the bed in the other room, but quickly decided against it. Men in my area of work do not play with their employer's toys. I knew better. I'd always known better, and not a single one of them had ever enticed me the way this boy did.

And Jiraiya certainly had all types up his sleeve. You name it and he had it stashed away in some back room of his business empire, waiting with a sexy smirk and teasing costume to take you off to bed without a single protest. This boy wasn't any different. He'd been trained to act as he did, and the web that I'd found myself falling into was nothing more then a honed art of seduction that kept toys like him alive and desirable. I'd let my guard down and I'd been a fool to do such a thing.

It would not happen again.

I would not let it happen again.

And that, was final.

Final enough, at least, that my mind was completely on business until we stepped out of the elevator.

For the last set of years, far too many for me to care about really keeping track, I'd trained my body to react when it was most needed. I'd trained my mind to react to situations that would make normal people freeze or cower and I'd done it efficiently. In the circles I worked I knew I was one of the best. So training my mind to not think about de-robing a boy much younger and much more feminine then me came quite easily. I dressed in my own room without a second thought, then left and started about my normal rounds with only one small change, I now had the most delicious looking shadow trailing behind me silently.

All right, I finally admitted in to myself in the elevator, perhaps I did need more training then I thought.

His face was unreadable all morning and more so in the reflective walls of the elevator. He was leaning back against the wall, looking much like a child against the railing on the side, and his gaze wandered off to some place I couldn't see as the machinery whispered and clunked around us. I made no move to speak, standing as silent as him, but instead of staring into space I allowed myself to admire his features and remember the feel of his skin. His entire body had been soft, not just his face and hands. I'd seen many people in my employer's bed, and none of them had been like that. No amount of make up could make your body feel as soft as it looked. And even if a person's make up was perfect, it only went down to the neck, or maybe the breast. Fine skin never went past the upper chest. If you were lucky, then you managed to make your feet and hands mirror the fine porcelain quality of your face, but never the rest of your body. Bodies held signs of aging, and the center of your body was the first to show it, just as it was one of the easier places to injure in a fight or a hit. When a person grew old, wrinkles around the eyes, and calluses on the hands could be avoided, but not your body.

This boy was perfect. Head to toe he was walking, living perfection. I hadn't inspected his body the night before, per say, but I'd felt enough of it to know that there was nothing that marred his skin or his beauty. He didn't need make up to hide nights of no sleep and the stresses of clenching one's jaw. He didn't need manicures, or pedicures or whatever the hell else women and men subject themselves to to stay beautiful these days. He was one of those rare beings who needed nothing in order to look as too many others in the world dreamed. The tattoo on his back was merely bonus, and made him even more surreal.

I must have been staring too long, because his head was now turned and for a moment his eyes met mine, before he ducked his head and a quiet blush crossed his cheeks.

It bothered me that I couldn't read his eyes. They looked completely pure and naive, and yet at the same time cold, icy almost. But then, I suppose, it made sense that his eyes might resemble what I'm sure mine looked like. Like me, he wasn't allowed to feel things either. Still... I should have been able to read at least something in his eyes.

"Normally when the door opens, you walk out of it. Unless, of course, you were just riding the elevator for the hell of it."

Shikamaru's voice grated against my nerves and, rather unpleasantly, jerked me out of my thoughts. Leaving Haku and my own paranoia in the elevator, I walked over to the desk and settled him with one of my most hatred filled glares. I would have done more, and I certainly was tempted, but beating up a coworker was not the way to begin a day unless I was being paid for it. Besides, Shikamaru wouldn't have reacted anyway.

This morning, he didn't even look up at me. Instead he turned in his chair and ejected a cd from one of the monitors. I ignored him and checked the guest book as usual, even if I knew there was nothing of interest.

"Here."

The cd was moved in my direction and left on the desk. I frowned and looked up at him again. His job was computers, not mine. I knew the basics, but I'd never really liked machines that much, or rather, at least not ones that weren't designed with killing people as the purpose.

"And what do I need this for?"

Shikamaru just raised an eyebrow at me as he leaned back in his chair and started fiddling with a pen. "It's the only copy and I'm wiping it from the system. Unless of course you want him to know that you decided to enjoy yourself last night." He nodded to the boy who was now standing submissively next to the elevator door, as if I didn't already get his point.

I snatched the cd up and shoved it in the back pocket of my pants, my glare decreasing a notch. "Why." It wasn't a question and it wasn't a statement, it was a growled demand. The effort was wasted on the boy in front of me, but it at least made me feel a bit better.

He regarded me again for a long moment, then shrugged and tossed the pen into it's holder. "Frankly, you make my job simpler and you know how much I hate working." A smirk appeared, then quickly faded away. "I like my job, and life, boring and simple. You are the only person here who manages to keep it that way, and I'm not giving that up. I don't care at all what you did last night or what you plan to do with him, and hell I'll even help you cover it up, just do me a favor and stick around. Without you this job would become far too troublesome to be worth anything." That said he kicked his feet up on the counter and reclined in his chair, relaxing as his eyes occasionally watched the screens.

It took a second for his words to actually sink in. "You don't care."

"Nope."

"And if I do it again?"

Shikamaru's smirk returned. "Just don't do it in the lobby. It's your job to stand in during sex sessions, not mine."

Smartass. I didn't even dignify that with a comment and made a show of taking the cd out of my back pocket and snapped it into a handful of pieces before disposing of it in a waste basket. If he reacted - which I'm sure he didn't - I didn't see it as I was already headed for the elevator.

My anger cooled after two silent floors and I finally let myself relax. Any stress over what I'd done, seemed to ease off my shoulders and dissipate into the air between us. Orochimaru would never see what I'd done last night, nor would he see anything I might do in the time he was going to be gone, be it a week or a month. Shikamaru had just decided to destroy all evidence of what I'd done, and as long as I didn't leave some sort of evidence myself, like a mark on his body, then no one would ever know. Somewhere along the lines of my years at this place, I'd managed to make an ally in that boy that I would probably never quite understand. Still, no matter what his reasoning, Shikamaru was trustworthy and I knew he'd told the truth.

He wouldn't tell.

He was probably looping the video right now, or some technical crap like that, making it appear that I'd been sleeping the entire night, or taken some very long bath, or something like that. I didn't really care how he was covering it up, just that he was.

No one was ever going to see what I had done...

Or was about to do.

I suppose, that I could have been smarter. A smarter man, and a more well trained one, would have left it at just that night and gone on with his life. I knew better and nearly ever fiber in my body was screaming at me that I knew better. Still, in that second, I really didn't care. The only thing I wanted was the thing standing right in front of me, watching me with silent eyes.

I watched as he looked at me and noticed my thoughts, which had to be betrayed in my expression. His eyes widened just a little, making the chilling blue that much more noticeable. I watched his mouth close and his throat move as he swallowed and he shifted against the reflective wall, his chest moving just a little quicker.

The elevator moaned to a stop as a thick buzz momentarily filled the air. My hand left the stop button and I moved forward, pressing my body against his with only a couple steps. The world around us seemed to stop with the elevator and I let myself ease back and let go of everything that could hold me back. I silenced all of my better thoughts and simply enjoyed the feel of his body pressed between mine and the cool wall, which made him shiver just slightly. In that moment that I gave in, my hands slid around his body and every inch of me began to ache with repressed need.

He never protested.

LEMON (Due to restrictions, the lemon has been left out of this part. If you are interested in reading the full chapter with the full lemon scene, please visit either my livejournal or TONFA. The address to TONFA is on my main info page.)


	7. Chapter 7

Title: "Slave boy"  
Series: Naruto  
Author: Snow Tigra  
Pairings: ZabuzaxHaku, NarutoxSasukexGaara, OrochimaruxHaku  
Warnings: Yaoi. Pets. Slight age differences, assassins and certain characters being older then we've seen in the series.  
Summary: Zabuza's worked for his share of unsightly characters. But when his current boss gets a boy as a 'gift' he finds himself forgetting his current job and getting distracted by this boy. 

A full week passed by me in a whirl of secretive sessions and comfortably rumpled sheets. The idea that Shikamaru was covering up my every move released something in me I hadn't even thought possible and it was all I could do to stop myself from touching and taking that boy every time I met his eyes for more then a few moments. The hesitations I'd originally had all but melted away and I found myself indulging in what had to be the guiltiest pleasure in the world every single night and more then a few times during the day.

The boy never once protested and more then a few times seemed to say just the right things to spur me on, as if he actually wanted me to keep going. He seemed to know exactly what type of looks to give me, and how to stand against a wall, just barely out of my sight so that his slightest movement would distract and tease me ever so deliciously. I told myself time and time again that this was the life he was trained for and that everything he did was to the end of pleasuring whatever his 'master' wanted, but every single time I touched him, my coherent and sane thoughts just melted away. More then a part of me wanted to believe this week would never end.

I shouldn't have been surprised that it was Shikamaru's usual smart ass comments that brought my week of enticing fantasies to a shuttering crash.

"You really are hooked and hopeless, you know that?"

I answered him with a grunt and I was determined that it was all he was going to get while I was down there in the lobby. As usual Haku stood back by the elevator door. At the moment he was standing near some new bush, smiling softly at the flowers. It was one of those plants that I'd protested because of it's height and large branches. It could easily conceal something when you stepped out of the elevator, but I'd been out voted. Now, though, I didn't mind it there. It was making him smile, and something about that just seemed right.

"See."

"Shut up." I grumbled, slapping the guest book shut and glaring at him.

"You know, I should have sold these things. But that would require me watching all of them," he pulled out the two cds this time and handed them to me. "You are horribly hooked and it is not going to go away. Week over or not."

I must have been imagining, because for once Shikamaru's expression actually looked to hold an expression aside from boredom. He almost looked concerned... however preposterous that sounded.

"The week is over today. Today things go right back to normal." There, I'd said it. The day that I'd been dreading all week was today and now all I had to do was go about my duties until our employer returned and then that was it. The chances of him leaving again on such a long chance were slim and I'd spent the last few hours telling myself that this was my last time with Haku the way we'd been acting all week. I was set and I was ready for it to happen. It was good while it lasted, but it would never happen again. Haku was used to having single nights with people - it was his training wasn't it? - so I could do the same. My job was very clear, it did not include playing with my employer's toys.

And of course, as that old lady Fate would always do, the glass doors to the office building opened and I was greeted with a sound that always reminded me of nails on a chalkboard.

Anko walked in with Orochimaru, laughing in a high pitched voice at some joke she must have told before the doors opened. I slipped the cds in my back pocket and turned to look at the both of them with a nod, and received the same nod back from Orochimaru. Though, at the sight of him I felt my former rock solid resolve shatter and blow away with the wind and it was all I could do to not give Haku one last look before he was taken out of my hands forever.

Fuck. Shikamaru was right.

"Aww, isn't that sweet, the loyal puppy is standing right at the door waiting for his master to come back." Anko smirked and walked up to me, reminding me much of a rival cat prancing over another's yard, while the owner of the territory was stuck inside the house. I also wondered how easily I could use one of the cds I'd just received from Shikamaru to slit her throat. Wouldn't that be ironic and satisfying?

"Ah, Anko, I don't believe you've been introduced." I turned as Orochimaru's voice interrupted us, and actually thanked him for saving me the need to respond to the bitch, but that thought died in my throat as I saw him standing with Haku.

The boy's expression was completely different then what I'd become accustomed too. Rather then the light look in his eyes and the hint of a smile which had crossed his lips all week, now his eyes were quiet and blank. His face was silent as well, everything carefully locked away as Orochimaru's pale hand slid over his shoulders, pulling his hair down over one shoulder to keep it from covering the tattoo. The touch was light and I watched Haku shiver, his eyes slipping shut and his lips part ever so slightly. My body ached to touch him after seeing such a reaction, but I didn't move from Shikamaru's desk and I made no sound. I simply watched.

Anko walked over to the boy and I watched her eyes widen as she noticed the large tattoo on his back. "He's beautiful..." I gripped the edge of the desk as I watched her scratch a long red nail down his spine and he responded with a soft whimper, leaning against Orochimaru. I didn't have to think about it too long to figure out that Anko liked to leave marks on those she spent time with, and that idea enraged me. How dare she even consider marking him. How dare she.

"Would you care to join us?" Orochimaru's voice had dropped down into a low hiss, the type of sound that left no guessing what the invitation was for. The first moment back and he was already inviting that bitch to use Haku with him. How could he even consider doing such a thing-

I stopped my thoughts and forced myself to take a slow breath. Of course he could consider it. He could consider it because Haku was his. Haku, the boy, was his toy, not mine. Haku had never been mine and never would be. It was all my fault for letting myself become so attached that I was this angry. I had no right to even consider the thought that the boy would ever be mine, and a week of forbidden sex and thoughts had only worsened my situation. It never changed what I was or what he was. Haku was a sex toy that had been given to Orochimaru by Jiraya for one reason or another. Haku wasn't even really a boy, but rather a pretty decoration who walked around and was expected to allow everyone else to do what they wished to him. He had nothing, he didn't even own himself.

And for the first time in the entire week I wondered if he thought of me just like I thought of Orochimaru and Anko. Was I simply another person who'd wanted his body and his reactions? I had to be... it was what he was trained for.

I watched quietly as Anko agreed to the invitation and took Haku's hand, pulling him into the elevator as Orochimaru followed her. She wasted no time in scratching his back more, making him lean against her and cling a bit to her body as his face showed a small bit of pain. But I couldn't muster up the strength to be angry this time. After all, hadn't I done the same thing? I knew I had.

The elevator door dinged, the sound echoing through the empty hole I felt growing inside me and I made no move to do anything.

I don't know what would have happened or how I would have reacted after that moment, my own thoughts haunting me as they did. Still, there was one saving grace. As the large metal doors slid shut Haku raised his head and met my eyes for a single moment. And for a single moment his eyes held emotion again, regret and sadness. Then the doors were closed and he was gone, being taken off for whatever they wanted to do with him. Still that one look had been enough to dispel the growing abyss inside me. I hadn't been like that to him. If I had, he never would have given me that look.

"Zabuza."

My eyes flickered from the elevator back to Shikamaru who was watching me quietly. I had no idea what was going to his mind, and I knew I would never be able to guess it. Shikamaru had been and would always be a mystery to me.

"I can't cover up anything if you allow yourself to get caught."

I nodded, understanding the implication in those words. He'd cover up my secret moments, but if I was ever caught, I was on my own. Fine with me. That was how life went anyway.

I walked off from his desk, not even bothering to say anything else to him, and opened one of the closet doors, which actually lead to a concealed stairwell. Stepping inside I stood there and let the door close behind me, shutting me in the silent halls, before walking down the stairs. The florescent lighting overhead whined as one of the bulbs begged to be changed before it went out and filled my mind with a pleasant annoying buzz, which would have annoyed the hell out of me if it weren't for the fact that it kept my thoughts away, or at least... most of them.

Still, it didn't take that huge of an imagination to see what Anko was doing to Haku.

Once, a couple years ago, Anko had set her mind on trying to seduce me. Apparently she'd decided that I was the kind of man she wanted to play with, and most likely attempt to break, since she was one of those kinds. Her taste in sex and such activities lingered into more then a little pain and marks left that would last for more then a night. I had no idea if she was the type to use toys or props to add to what she liked but I wouldn't have been surprised. Her method of enjoyment was blunt. If she liked you she said so in a way that left no wondering. Just like if she didn't like you, she reminded you with every look, action and word.

In my case, back then, she'd let me know by being in my room, on my bed, naked once I'd come back from one of my rounds. Her smirk at the time had mocked me, just the way she always did now, daring me to take back my territory which she'd invaded and claim her in the process. I'd declined in very impolite terms. I had no interest in her and never had.

I will admit that my mind played with the idea once. I was never really the type to consider such things, but when one has a woman with what magazines would consider a near perfect body, and larger assets then most, not even the most homosexual man in the world could keep himself from stopping for a second to reconsider his way of life. She was attractive, easily. Still, no matter how beautiful or enticing the wrapping, the personality inside could slap the most of obsessed man cold. I'd kicked her out of my room quickly and slammed the door hard enough to shove her into the hallway. And then I'd done exactly what I was doing right now.

I'd headed down to the shooting range to blow the heads off a couple hundred cardboard dummies with the loudest shotgun we had in the basement.

A firing range is and always will be my preferred method of letting off steam. Some compare it to sex, but I see no such similarity until you've turned sex into something painful and even deadly, which wasn't my style at all. For stress relief and general being pissed off at the world, there was absolutely nothing better I'd found then standing in a large, non-descript, concrete room with a loaded shot gun in one's hands, firing until you could feel the force of the bullets reverberate through your skull in spite of the ear covers.

And now, every target in front of me was Anko. Every cardboard cutout that moved across the room in long memorized patterns held her mocking smirk and teasing eyes. Every cardboard cutout moved like her, strutting her assets as if she owned every room that she happened to pass into. Every clicking gear was the sound of her heels hitting the floor. And every shot fired was a piece of heaven I happily imagined collecting. Had she honestly been there she would have been swiss cheese in moments, I used so many shots.

I didn't think about Orochimaru or Haku.

I didn't think about what they were doing to that boy right at that moment.

I didn't think about the way his hair slid over his shoulders, running with the smoothness of water which human hands could never quite catch.

I didn't think about the exquisitely crafted brocade fabric sliding away from his shoulders and falling down his back to settle on the floor.

I didn't think about the way his eyes closed when he was touched with just the softest caress, or the way his lips parted and trembled if you pressed him back against the mattress with a deep kiss.

I didn't think about how he'd reacted in the lobby when Anko's nails had scratched down his spine--

A low whine filled the room as my bullet missed its shot, flying past the target by a hair and embedding itself in the concrete wall on the other side of the room. I added my own choice word to the fading sound in the room.

One thought. A single wrong thought and already my mind began churning images. My imagination had never been more vivid as it was in that moment, conjuring up a clear and nearly physical image of Haku and the two who I knew were enjoying him. My body shuddered with need as I saw him, in my mind, sitting in Orochimaru's lap and clinging to him breathlessly as Orochimaru was inside him and Anko's hands explored and marked every bit of sensitive flesh she could come in contact with.

The image was so real in my mind, actually too real for my own comfort. I caught myself shivering at the very thought and as I raised the gun to fire another shot, my hand trembled and I missed ago, this time further off then before, actually hitting the target behind the one I was concentrating on. Well, at least I was still deadly when distracted, even if I'd aimed at the wrong person.

I didn't even try to suppress the need to growl at myself in frustration as I emptied the gun into the closest target, turning the head into swiss cheese as I ground my teeth in concentration. The steady sound of bullets flying through cardboard to hit the concrete walls beyond slowly pounded the unwelcome images out of my head. Once I'd emptied a couple more clips into the same target and completely obliterated it's head and shoulders I finally allowed myself to calm down and take a breath.

My teeth hurt from the pressure of gritting them so close together while my ears reverberated as if the bullets had been fired directly in my head rather then next to it. The momentary pain and annoyance slid through my mind and I concentrated on it, using it to banish the rest of my distracting thoughts.

I had a job.

I had a job I was hired to do.

Haku was not part of that job. Not anymore.

Protecting him and passing him in the hallway was something I would just have to deal with and drill out of my system like every other thing that annoyed the hell out of me. The easiest option would be to kill him, but even the thought of that didn't work. Besides, I was very sure that would put me out of a job and right into my own coffin.

That thought didn't actually bother me except for the fact that Anko would probably be the one ordered to do it and there was no way I'd give her that pleasure.

Speaking of the bitch…

The door opened behind me and I didn't even have to turn to know who it was.

Perhaps it was her perfume, which always hinted at sex, the kind you remembered because it was painful, not because it was good. Her clicking shoes reminded me of an annoying clock that was kept in the lunch room of an office job, counting down for the blue and white collars to return to their little cells of life. Whatever it was that tipped off my senses, I preferred to think of it as a survival mechanism. The ability to sense a rival predator entering my territory.

I heard her cross the room and position herself on the counter next to the gun rack and I knew from familiarity that she deliberately crossed her legs slowly to draw other's eyes exactly where she wanted them.

"You don't know what you're missing, Zabuza, that boy is heavenly."

I couldn't remember the last time her voice was so annoying. Maybe she'd just dropped to a new low.

And she was still talking as she inspected her nails. "So, tell me, the entire week that I was off with Orochimaru and you were watching that beautifully clothed piece of meat walk around and you never even once considered it?"

I moved to the other end of the table and began cleaning the gun, needing to take it apart so I didn't help her in the task of losing a few very important limbs and arteries. "That wasn't part of the assignment."

"See now, that's what's wrong with you, Zabu. You're such a loyal little puppy that you could turn even the most interesting of jobs into the most boring piece of gravel on earth. Honestly, you have to ask for some stuff sometimes, and even possibly work for them. You're human aren't you? You honestly have to want more then this little job of protecting and killing and inspecting. How do you not get bored during the day? How do you not want a little… extra curricular activity?"

I clicked the gun back together. "I'm bored right now," I muttered.

She just laughed at me. "Oh you are funny. You really need to enjoy him. I'm sure Orochimaru would let me borrow him for a night if you wanted to join us. You should hear how his voice cracks when you finally let him cry out."

My gun was pointed at her before I even realized what I was doing and my entire body worked on autopilot as I dug the muzzle of the gun into her neck. To her credit she froze, the teasing glint ever present in her eyes finally disappearing for a second as she stared back at me. Why the hell hadn't I scared her like this sooner? That look was just priceless and something to be coveted.

"Get out." My words bit and sounded harsh even to me. In my mind, all I could see was what I knew she'd done to the boy. How she'd hurt him just to hear the sound she apparently loved and craved. There was nothing more that I wanted right then to pull those fingernails one by one from her fingers and hear her scream a bit. But then, this was Anko… she might actually enjoy it.

A gun and threat of imminent death would have to suffice.

Silence filled the room as she watched me, caught like a child in the neighbor's backyard, who climbed the fence to realize that there was killer dog waiting for her when she landed. I'd like to think, for the first time, she actually saw me as more then the 'puppy' she always referred to me as. For the first time she seemed to view me as an actually deadly threat. The look in her eyes was new to her face and it was absolutely delicious thanks to how she was acting. I knew I would remember that look and completely savor it for the rest of my life. And meanwhile she would never live it down, which only made it more worth it.

Slowly she backed away from me, her eyes never leaving my own as I resisted the urge to smirk at her. Instead I let my arm move and the gun stayed pressed against her neck as she inched to the door. Finally she was out of my reach and she retreated faster, only stopping at the door to watch me.

"You did sleep with him," she breathed out.

My face remained cold and impassionate as I responded. "Did I?"

By her reaction I knew immediately she'd caught that veiled threat. My own cold voice and dead look was a clear communication of a threat on her life should she ever over step her bounds again. I watched her as she quickly left the room, gone before the door returned to the frame. I knew she wouldn't tell, she didn't have the guts to go up against me after all things were considered. We were used to being rivals, but I'd always brushed her off as annoying and never really confronted her before.

Gods I should have done this sooner, it felt so good.

Returning the gun to the case, I made my way back to my quarters, my mind replaying the scene in my head over and over. I would certainly have sweet dreams tonight.

Maybe they would make up for the fact that it was the first time in a week I was sleeping alone.


	8. Chapter 8

Title: "Slave boy"  
Series: Naruto Author: Snow Tigra  
Pairings: ZabuzaxHaku, NarutoxSasukexGaara, OrochimaruxHaku  
Warnings: Yaoi. Pets. Slight age differences, assassins and certain characters being older then we've seen in the series.  
Summary: Zabuza's worked for his share of unsightly characters. But when his current boss gets a boy as a 'gift' he finds himself forgetting his current job and getting distracted by this boy. 

Author's notes: Lemon warning. Also, I have nothing against Anko, honestly. I like her... just that in this fic she had a specific purpose to fill. Don't hate me for that. ;;

Chapter 8

I gave in that night.

I don't remember the last time I gave into something like this, but by the time I made it back to my room, my mind was flying with images of what I knew they had done. At first, all I could be was angry and jealous that Anko had even dared to touch him or mark his body, but soon that idea had twisted in my mind to something much more pleasurable.

Reaching my room I stepped into the shower, closing my eyes to try and rid myself of the images as the water pelted my body and slid down to the floor. In retrospect, the action of getting naked and being alone probably wasn't the best idea.

I saw Haku in Orochimaru's bedroom, his hair fastened above his shoulders and the robe-like outfit spread out around him. It melted into the soft bed covers which fell out around him, making it seem like he wore dozens of layers, like some captive Asian royalty at the mercy of his captor.

A command as the two watched, and I watched in my mind, and he undid the tie on the robe. The embroidered fabric slid down his shoulders, disappearing onto the bed to reveal his body in the dim light. He took the clip out of his hair and let that cascade down as well, making his entire form and everything he touched seem to be made out of liquid water.

Gods he was so beautiful.

The very thought of him sitting there with his young face and perfect body sent shivers down my spine and I don't remember when in this little imaginary escape I'd slid my own hand down to my legs, but it was there now, and the sensation of skin moving against skin, only made the images more vibrant and delicious.

(The rest of this scene can be found on my TONFA account as it is too explicit for FFN, please look in my profile for the address.)

The images completely faded when the tile holding the soap broke from the wall under my fingers. Frowning at it in disgust I dropped it to the floor and turned off the water, debating the use of superglue. I toweled myself off, wiping away the wetness and smell of what I'd just done and I couldn't help but frown at myself.

Just when had I lost control in this situation this much?

I flung the towel across the room and pulled on a fresh set of clothes so angrily that I nearly pulled the zipper from the seam. The shirt didn't easily make it over my head for all my effort either. With a frustrated growl at myself and a slamming door I left my room, determined to find something else to do.

The halls were quiet, a futile attempt to be soothing to the mind. Almost all the lights in the rooms were out, save for the dim ones in the hallway, and my own steps would have echoed loudly had I not known how to walk so they wouldn't be heard.

I passed the living areas which covered the top floors, walking away from my own room and entering into the more secluded area of my employer. I fully expected to hear his raspy voice gasping and moaning as he moved inside Haku, but it was mercifully silent. I had no desire to hear anything like that for a long time, if I could help it.

Camera hugged the corners of the walls and ducked behind potted plants, spying on those who walked down the hallway. My eyes skipped over each one from practice and I just kept walking to nowhere in particular.

It took me a few minutes to realize that the little red lights weren't blinking.

Normally, when cameras weren't running, one would contact the person watching them downstairs. Maintenance might be in order and probably was already being taken care of by the staff. Had it been later in the day I know it would have been amusing to hear Shikamaru rant about how troublesome computers were and how they really weren't worth anything, even if he spent most of his life around and working with them. However, being that it was the middle of the night, none of this was my priority. For me it was much simpler: check on my employer. A power outage or something not working this time of night had much higher implications then some glitch or broken fuse in the security system. Missing cameras, especially around his bedroom, meant there was trouble. Usually of the hired sort.

Orochimaru's door greeted me with the fact that it was sitting open, left with just the slightest amount of space between the frame and the edge of the door, as if someone had rushed out and not put enough strength into pushing the door shut.

Opening the door, revealed a silent room filled with dim light from the windows, and an eerie stillness. Nothing in the room moved, and it took a few extra seconds then normal for me to realize that the oddly shaped pillow on the floor was actually a body, tossed back like a well played with chew toy, a moment away from losing all its stuffing. I crossed the room to the body and knelt next to it, frowning softly when I recognized who it was.

The body was female, sprawled across the floor with her hair spread around her head to make up for the absence of the bloody pool which usually accompanied bodies like this. The only blood present was actually around her hands, where her assailant had decided to severely break off each of her finger nails, presumably - and painfully – one by one. A gag of tape covered her mouth, obviously to muffle the screams which would have ensued and alerted any nearby. A part of me wished I'd been there to see it, while the other side of me was enraged that someone had beaten me to the punch. As far as I was concerned, Anko got exactly what she deserved.

She wouldn't be missed.

My eyes scanned the room, as I knelt by her body, but I found nothing else of interest in the room. Everything else was still and the assailant was obviously not present anymore, having disappeared back into the hallway after taking care of this minor nuisance. Still, as careful as this person seemed, they were reckless in the act they'd taken while killing Anko. It labeled them as familiar with her and therefore traceable even if she was dead. Someone who saw her on the street might guess she loved her nails, but only someone who knew her closely and in person would know how she used those nails.

It wasn't much of a mental jump to create a list of possible suspects.

It wasn't until I stood up that I heard the commotion in the next room, alerting me to which direction my quarry had taken. Forgetting the scene and the room I was in, I rushed to the next door and didn't even blink as I caught the smaller of the two shapes and slammed him into the wall. Pure instinct caused the action and for once I realized exactly how much it had paid to watch my employer in the dark all those night when he'd been doing other things in bed. I knew his shape and movements in an instant, even in the dark. And the one I held pinned tightly to the wall now was not him.

The sound in the room stopped and the tension leaked away with my entrance, now only punctuated by the struggling form I held down. An unrecognizable growl escaped his throat and it took all my might to not let go once I realized who I was holding.

Haku was pressed tightly to the wall, under my hands, struggling to break free as his hair slowly came untangled from around his head. He was still wearing one of the robes he'd been given, though it was torn now and barely hanging over his small body. In one hand he held a handful of small but sharp needles, I watched myself automatically crush his hand and force him to drop them, even as I was still grasping the situation before me.

"Always the best job I could ask for, though I'm sure Anko wouldn't agree. Oh well, I wasn't paying you to protect her anyway." Out of the corner of my eye I saw the smile slither across his face as he brushed himself off. My employer had escaped with little more then a scratch on one arm and a torn sleeve, but otherwise was quite well. I had apparently arrived in time before anything happened, which was good considering the weapons he'd been wielding. It would have been a quick death if he knew how to use them correctly.

He was Haku.

The thought slapped me in the face again and I responded by pinning him tighter to the wall as he growled out another "Let me go!" I couldn't grasp onto this thought and the majority of my brain was just ready to shut down and completely not accept what I was seeing. Haku couldn't do this. Haku wasn't like this. Haku was simply that boy who'd slept in my room for a week, who'd shuddered at my touch, made the most delicious sounds…

My mind trailed off in disbelief and all I could do was stare at his tattooed back. Orochimaru was saying something but I couldn't hear it. I just couldn't accept this. I had to be dreaming. This wasn't my life, not with Haku like this.

"… seems Jiriya decided to have me killed after all. I suppose it would just be justice that he's in the hospital right now for some type of surgery. That old fool always did drink too much."

He kept rambling and something clicked in my mind, shutting down the denial as the cold hard facts just settled there before my eyes.

Haku was an assassin sent by Jiriya to kill Orochimaru.

Had their rivalry really come that far that they now took to taking physical blows rather then verbal and monetary?

And then the anger rolled in, making itself present.

I'd fallen for it.

I'd failed my job to protect my employer, no matter what praise he gave me. I would forever know that I'd only been lucky to have been wandering the halls when this happened. Had I not been lucky he would be dead, and so would I because it only made sense for me to be the next target so I could not avenge my employer's death. I'd completely fallen for whatever Haku's plan was, hook line and sinker. In fact, I'd been so blinded by my own lust for the boy, that seeing Anko dead the way she was hadn't even brought Haku's name to my mind. Any good bodyguard would have figured it out immediately.

I was angry at myself for being a fool. And I was enraged at Haku for tricking me into such a thing and being so damn good at it.

In fact, I wanted to kill him right there.

He must have sensed a change in my stance because he suddenly grew very still, not moving at all. The room became silent again, filled only with our breathing.

"Get him out of my sight. But don't kill him. I want to ask him a few… questions later." The word questions was hissed and I knew it implied more then just talking.

Nodding my agreement I pulled Haku back from the wall and forced him to turn around so he facing me. He wouldn't look up at me, his head was bowed and his hair covered his face. His shoulders were hunched, but his stance was still defensive and not at all submissive like the boy I'd become accustomed to seeing.

I wanted to ask him why. I wanted to scream in his face and make him tell me why he'd done it. I wanted to demand that he tell me exactly why he'd done it and if any of it had been true. I felt betrayed and I hated it. I hated it.

I hated him.

My own eyes narrowed as I let go of him, letting him stand on his own without restraining him at all. Then I let my anger take hold for one brief second and shoved him back into the wall again. This time I hit him below the chin and he crashed back into the wall, his head taking most of the force. I watched with cold eyes as the beautiful body before me crumbled to the ground, out cold and swore that the next time I got near to touching him and enjoying him, I would kill him instead. He wasn't worth the breaths I was now allowing him to take.

Orochimaru said nothing next to me, but I was aware of his eyes. At that moment I knew I was transparent about what I'd done with Haku, the guilt written on my face between the lines of anger and hatred. Still, it didn't really matter anymore. I'd just saved his life, that seemed to buy me a hell of a lot of leniency.

"Take him down to the sublevel, then get some rest. I want you to go pay a visit for me to Jiriya tomorrow. He has some explaining to do."

I nodded and part of me couldn't help but smirk at that order. "How would you like him to be questioned?"

Orochimaru returned the small smirk, looking very amused at my reaction. "However you'd like, long as he's still breathing."

"Yes sir."


	9. Chapter 9

Title: "Slave boy"  
Series: Naruto  
Author: Snow Tigra  
Pairings: ZabuzaxHaku, NarutoxSasukexGaara, OrochimaruxHaku  
Warnings: Yaoi. Pets. Slight age differences, assassins and certain characters being older then we've seen in the series.  
Summary: Zabuza's worked for his share of unsightly characters. But when his current boss gets a boy as a 'gift' he finds himself forgetting his current job and getting distracted by this boy. 

Chapter 9

The next morning I found myself inside yet another large office building, but this one was very unfamiliar and already I didn't like it.

Built to the same standards of all office buildings, this one was large, but not nearly as large as the one I was accustomed to living in. Steel beams and large windows marked it as a piece of the corporate world and even the entry way mirrored our own. The only noticeable difference between the two so far was the number of floors as this building was several stories shorter then Orochimaru's and those surrounding it. Still, size meant nothing in a corporation and it especially meant nothing in the world I inhabited.

A female sat at the desk of this building, her hair pulled back unwillingly into multiple pony tails which stuck out from her scalp in defiance. In contrast to her hair she actually seemed to be dressed appropriately for the job, wearing a simple skirt and button down top suit with a tasteful necklace and matching earrings that didn't dangle enough to look annoying. For a female she didn't look half bad, though she struck me more as someone Shikamaru might be interested in, assuming of course that his world went beyond computer screens and animated characters. The thought of Shikamaru being interested in a living breathing human was actually… amusing.

Her green eyes looked up at me with a bored expression as I stepped in and then moved back to the date book on her desk as she idling flipped through a few pages. Unlike Shikamaru she was just a front secretary; no computer monitors covered her desk. She didn't do any of the security, which immediately made me wonder where the camera's footage was sent to.

"Mr. Zabuza. I'm sorry to inform you that your meeting has been cancelled. He's still in the hospital."

It was obvious right away that the friendly tone was meant to catch me off guard, and perhaps it would have if I weren't so set in my purpose. I wasn't surprised Jiriya was still in the hospital from whatever surgery he'd undergone. In fact, I'd had Shikamaru look into that for me, and he assured me that the old drunk was well under the weather and out cold at the hospital thanks to his medications. That actually helped me. If there was one thing that was true about this world I lived in, it was that there was always someone else ready to take charge.

"I am aware of that. I'm here to speak with his replacement."

She frowned at the word 'replacement', knowing exactly how offensive such a term was for that position. But she also understood that I wouldn't be chased away by whatever tactics she used because in the next moment she was on the phone, giving cryptically small answers. A second later the phone was hung up again and she nodded to the two large elevator doors.

"Third floor. Would you like an escort?" The last question was a taunt and she smirked as she said it, apparently feeling the need to make fun of me just a little. I didn't give her a response and simply stepped into the elevator and took it to the floor instructed.

I don't know what I expected to find when the elevator doors opened, but what I came face to face with was the most gaudy and badly decorated floor I'd seen, even by my standards. The lights were turned low, replaced with the annoying bulbs that flickered like real fire and gave most people headaches. The carpet was a lush, thick red looking like fresh blood, and the walls and ceiling were painted to match. An almost literal death march was set up leading to the one door down the hall and it was quite a feat for me to resist making a face at the ridiculousness of it. What a waste, it actually looked like some man had let his ten year old son decorate the entire floor just to placate him.

Not a promising start.

I walked down the hall and opened the door at the end without so much as an introduction of myself. The door lead to an equally disgustingly decorated room echoing some ancient harem in fabrics chosen for their price rather then the fact that they could match. Everything held a red and orange hue, making the room look like I was standing in blood and fire. A moment later I realized this was the intended effect and my disgust lifted a little. It had succeeded in momentarily distracting me, so I had to give them credit for that.

Sitting in the middle of the room, on a large chair with no desk in sight, my respect fell again as I saw the boy. He was dressed in a black business suit, with the suit jacket unbuttoned and hanging open over his black shirt and loosened orange tie. He was young, one of those who was fresh out of college and ready to take the corporate world by storm. Blond hair that spiked much like the girl's down stairs betrayed his age, but his eyes were intelligent and not to be taken lightly. He was certainly older then Haku, but not by too much. And if I'd met him in a normal business setting he wouldn't have seemed quite so young as he did now.

The boy smiled at me, the kind of smile that a cat gives a canary in its cage at the pet store, promising horrible things as soon as the owner locks up for the night. The smile was effective in the fact that it unsettled me. I already didn't like this boy.

"Zabuza, right? You are as tall as the old man used to say, I'm impressed. He told me a lot of scary things about you." The boy's tone was pleasant and conversational as he beckoned me to be seated in front of him. I declined and simply leaned back against the wall, not interested in anything he was offering. I didn't trust this boy, even if it amused me that he referred to Jiriya as 'the old man'.

"I'll stand."

"Suit yourself." He gave a careless shrug. "So, what can I help you with while he's away?"

"You can explain the boy you sent."

A look of playfulness crossed the boy's face and now he truly did look amused. "So he was caught then. How interesting, especially since he was my best."

I frowned at those words, clearly not liking what they implied. I'd come to grips with Haku being a trained assassin – and kicked myself quite a few times mentally for not realizing it in time – but what I was hearing now only made the situation worse. I had a feeling it was now much more complicated then a simple assassination attempt.

I waited for my answers.

The boy didn't seem phased by my horrible mood and just leaned back in his chair, getting more comfortable. There was a small movement of his hand and two shapes stepped into the room, one from either side and I realized they'd been standing there in the shadows the entire time and I hadn't noticed either of them.

I really was slipping lately.

The boy on the left looked to be exactly Haku's age and build, carved from the same stone and fit to the same mold. His hair, however, was cut unevenly, reaching his chin in the front with a spikier effect in the back, following the seeming fad of hair which was unruly and uncontrollable. One side of his body was covered in dark black tattoos, looking like a pattern of oil splattered over his skin. His eye on the same side held a scar which had obviously gotten too close for comfort; his eye had been damaged and was now tinted red from the damage, giving him a creepy almost demonic look. He wore clothes much like Haku's but his was simply wrapped around his waist, leaving his chest bare to show he was muscled and strong, but not overly so. It didn't take much for me to know that this boy's weapons were his bare hands.

To the right was another boy, this one with unnaturally bright red hair, cut unevenly around his entire head and styled in one of those 'ruffled by hot sex and sleep' looks. Mascara covered the area around his eyes thickly and there was a Japanese symbol tattooed on his forehead that I didn't recognize. He wore a fishnet shirt and simple black pants, showing he was also the same size and build, possibly even thinner. Compared to the other boys in the room he really didn't look threatening at all, until you looked at his eyes. His eyes were wider then normal, and had a smirk been on his face rather then a bored look, I would have said he looked quite insane. I couldn't tell what this boy's specialty was, and something told me I didn't want to. It took me a moment to notice his marks because they blended in so well. Curved lines of brown and red dots swirled down his arms, making it look like sand was spinning around him in the air.

I resisted the urge to step back as I watched the two boys step up to their master. It took all my concentration to do everything I could to not look scared. I wasn't in control of this situation at all.

"I'd like you to meet Haku's brothers, Sasuke and Gaara. And I'm such a horrible host for not introducing myself." He gave me a nod of his head, clearly showing I wasn't worth the effort of bowing, and that he normally did bow to others higher then me. I knew my place with him in one moment, I was lower then the two flanking him. "Naruto Uzumaki. I have officially taken over Jiriya's position as of last night when he was admitted to the hospital."

That tone also told me it wasn't just alcohol that sent the old drunk to the hospital.

I let a small smirk cross my face. "You introduce yourself to me and introduce me to, I'm assuming, your two best assassins aside from Haku. I can't help but think you were waiting for me to show up."

Naruto returned the smirk, letting it blossom into a full out grin. "You're right. I'd like to enlist your services."

"You want to hire me." Well, wasn't this day full of interesting surprises.

The blond business man nodded as the red head sat next to his chair and the other perched on the arm rest. They leaned against him like harem girls, ready to accept any attention offered and eager to fill the room with more color and sensuality. Well, that also answered the question of where Haku received his training in that area.

"Not that I would ask you to do anything as distasteful as take care of your own employer, I wouldn't even trust a man in my service who betrayed his own employer like that. Instead, I'd just like you to transfer your alliances."

"Why? I certainly don't seem to fit your current tastes."

Naruto chuckles at that, amused at what to me seemed obvious. He leaned forward, a mischievous grin in his eyes that made him seem even more sinister in the perfectly pressed business suit. "True, but they seem to fit your tastes. And I'm not about to turn a blind eye to talent when it is obviously there. Aside from that… well, I'll need someone to retrain him."

"You mean punish him." Something must have leaked into my voice at that, because he only grinned more. I was apparently that transparent about my disgust at how I'd failed and how I'd let him slip past me. This man, in effect, was handing me the opportunity to take exactly what I wanted. With one word and one act the one who made such a fool of me would be mine to do with as I pleased. I could punish him however I chose, do whatever I wanted.

This boy knew me too well then, knew too well what Haku had tricked me into as part of his job and he was playing right into all of my current weaknesses without making me feel any more inferior then I already did. In that moment whatever respect I'd held for this boy increased 100 fold. He was a manipulator who got exactly what he wanted, that much was obvious. This man… he probably manipulated the old drunk from the day they met and now he had his goals in hand. I wasn't sure how I felt about being one of those goals, but I would be lying if I didn't admit how appealing the offer was, in spite of the strings.

"I'll consider it." I answered softly, mulling it over in my mind.

"Fair enough. I am very open to negotiations. However, any mention to your current employer and all offers will be rescinded. I don't like competition."

"Funny, you seemed like one who would enjoy it. I'll see myself out." I turned and opened the door behind me, showing them my back for a good minute before I closed the barrier between that room and the hallway. For a moment I stood there, considering it all, then moved on my way.

The idea of a job with this man, Naruto, intrigued me. It would not be nearly as comfortable as the job I currently held, and yet it would be in an entirely different way. Naruto didn't strike me as the type who would need a bodyguard such as myself, but then there were certain things that effeminate boys wouldn't be able to do. And apparently I'd gained a small reputation, at least with Jiriya.

The largest draw, predictably, was Haku. I found that in spite of my anger at his betrayal and his ability to pull the wool over my eyes, I still desired him more. He and everything about him was a horribly addictive drug which wouldn't ever let me shake from its hold. I knew for a fact I would have vivid dreams about him until I died and the idea didn't completely turn me away. The same hand that wanted to wring his neck, still wanted to touch him as I had before. One week hadn't been enough, it'd only made things so much worse as I should have known it would.

But that need, was that enough to jeopardize everything I'd gained in these years? Working for Orochimaru was the most stable job I could have in my profession, and quite a bit easier then other opportunities available. With Anko out of the way, I actually either liked or could tolerate those I worked with. At times I might even be tempted to call Shikamaru a friend. And now I had the opportunity to step away from it toward a job and life that advertised itself as much more… enjoyable. But was it worth it?

"Zabuza? Earth to Zabuza. Man, you must really be thinking hard if you don't even hear me."

I blinked and looked up, finding myself standing in the lobby, a few steps away from Shikamaru's desk. He looked mildly concerned, though not by much, as he leaned back in his chair, his feet on the desk. "So, how'd it go in enemy territory?"

"It was… interesting." That word didn't fit, I knew that, but I certainly couldn't think of another one to put in its place. How would you describe what I'd been offered and seen without breaching the agreement that could lose me the opportunity? Thankfully Shikamaru didn't feel the need to ask for more details. He was infuriating like that, but this time I welcomed it.

"The boss wants you up in his room when you get back, but you probably already knew that. If you want, I have the camera set in the room where he is."

A frown crossed my face as I stepped around his desk and looked at the small screen. A dulled picture of the bare room where I'd left Haku covered the screen and I watched as the small figure sat in the corner, occasionally looking up and looking around the room, but otherwise he didn't move.

"I called the hospital while you were gone as well. You might like to know that Jiriya died of heart failure."

I nodded, not truly surprised. Now it all belonged to that boy Naruto, and I was sure he had quite a few plans for the power that Jiriya's death awarded him. I still wasn't sure how I felt about being one of those plans.

I left Shikamaru's desk without so much of a word more and let him get back to his work. As I rode the elevator up to Orochimaru's office I couldn't help but think how easy it would be to have Shikamaru fix the cameras. I could be in and out of that room in a second and Haku would be dead and I was quite sure that Orochimaru wouldn't mind given Haku's actions. All he would care about is that there would be a lack of evidence, which I could make sure of.

Conversely I could also steal him out of the room and take him back to Naruto and accept his offer and no one would have proof of that either.

Was I honestly considering it?

I stepped into Orochimaru's office and nodded to him as he looked up from petting one of his snakes. He seemed relatively well rested for someone who'd just had his life threatened the night before. I had a feeling that almost nothing phased my employer before hand, now I knew for sure. He could be on the edge of death and he'd still smile that creepy smile and make you think he had it all under control.

"So the old man is dead, such a shame. Did you find out anything else interesting while you were there?" Obviously Shikamaru had already told him the news. Well, that saved me the trouble.

"Nothing. They're all rushing to decide who will take his spot and take care of the company."

Orochimaru snorted. "So disorganized. Oh well, it's not my concern. I'd made a decision about Haku regardless." He looked up at me, catching my eyes and tilting his head. "I want to keep the boy, however he will have to be taught to never do such a thing as that again."

I nodded. My stomach dropped, because I knew exactly where this was going.

"And that will be your job."

Damnit. "How exactly would you like me to train him?"

Orochimaru's smirk grew wider, creepier by the second. Had I not been used to him and the way he acted it might have made me uneasy. All right, I lied, it still did a little. "Any way you'd like. All I want is for him to stay pretty and for him to be alive to resume his job."

I felt sick at hearing that.

He still wanted to sleep with him. He still wanted to sleep with the boy who'd nearly killed him and was repulsed by everything that Orochimaru did. He knew about my week with the boy, I was sure of it, and he still wanted to keep him and use him like a treasured toy. I was nearly convinced that I could 'train' Haku however I wanted, even kill him and Orochimaru would still want to keep him. That very thought… I was very happy I had the self control I did, or I would have been very sick.

Haku had become no more then a pet to this man that paid me, and I was helping the situation. I was supposed to make him submit, retrain him, punish him back into the pleasurable little doll he'd originally be presented as. I was supposed to break him and hand him back to this man.

I felt sick and disgusted and for the first time in my life, I had an overwhelming passionate urge to argue for Haku and quit right then and there, saving the boy's life. No matter what he'd done, what he'd been trained or ordered to do, nothing made him deserve what I knew Orochimaru would do to him now. Not even with how much I resented him for tricking me would I wish this fate on that boy. He didn't deserve it. No one did.

And yet all I could do was nod my head and accept the order like any other. My sick feeling only worsened when I realized how much I was already broken to this snake's will. But my alternatives… were they really any better then where I was now?


	10. Chapter 10

Title: "Slave boy"  
Series: Naruto  
Author: Snow Tigra  
Pairings: ZabuzaxHaku, NarutoxSasukexGaara, OrochimaruxHaku  
Warnings: Yaoi. Pets. Slight age differences, assassins and certain characters being older then we've seen in the series.  
Summary: Zabuza's worked for his share of unsightly characters. But when his current boss gets a boy as a 'gift' he finds himself forgetting his current job and getting distracted by this boy. 

Chapter 10

An hour later and I found myself standing in my room, still as lost as before. I'd left Orochimaru's office after that and traveled down to the basement where Haku was being kept, bringing him back up to my room. Somewhere between the time he'd been locked up and when I'd gone to fetch him, someone had decided that a collar and chain matched with his new position and the handcuffs he was already wearing. This of course meant that I had to lead him through the hall on the chain like some sort of dog, even if I made him walk in front of me so I could watch his movements. No doubt the chain was more to remind him of his new position then to keep him under control. Chains and collars aren't effective against well trained assassins, instead it's like handing them just another weapon to possibly use against you if you let your guard down. Which is why I didn't.

Haku walked the entire way with his head down. He still wore the torn kimono, barely able to cover him at all now, and his hair was pulled back in a loose and messy braid that slid out of his smooth hair a little more with each silent step. He never spoke to me and never looked at me, only seeming resigned to his fate and waiting for the next opportunity. The boy who'd caught my fancy before, and who I realized had actually seduced me, seemed to be completely gone. In his place was a cold yet beautiful killer who reacted to nothing and spoke to no one. I knew his mind was still on his mission. I knew there was nothing left for him, there never had been, except for him to carry it out.

I had been a tool to him to complete his goal. And I, like a complete and total fool, had fallen for it. The thing that made it worse was that even though I knew everything now… I still wanted him.

Maybe the idle thought of a gun to my head and a bullet through my brain wasn't that bad of an idea. Though, knowing my luck, I'd probably spend an eternity in hell, set up just like this. Mere inches from the one I wanted to touch, everything but my libido holding me back from what I really wanted. When had my life really become this fucked up?

Attaching his chain to the newly installed bolt in my wall, I tossed him one of my shirts. The moment eerily mirrored the first night as he caught it, and looked at me for the first time since I'd caught him in his assassination attempt. His eyes weren't as cold as I'd imagined, but instead quiet and blank. He held the shirt as if confused what to do with it, just watching me.

"You'll have to take my cuffs off for me to change." This tone was new. He wasn't playing the part of a scared child, or a resigned pet. Now his voice was calm and cool as ice, without a bite to it. He just stated the simple fact and watched for my reactions. He didn't seem like he was trying to play me again, but then I had fallen for that trick before.

I let myself frown at him for a moment, my mind crossing over thoughts and considering possibilities. He was right, I did have to uncuff him for him to dress and I really didn't want him sitting on my floor in torn clothes or naked, so once again I was trapped. Frowning more I stepped over and undid the cuffs from his wrists.

The boy did not move for a moment, just watching me back. He was unreadable in his expression as he watched me, then he turned from me and began to undress, the torn fabric sliding down his body to reveal the full tattoo. He undressed slowly, making a show of letting the torn layers slide away and leaning over to pick up the shirt I'd tossed him and slide it over his body. Gods I wanted to touch him again.

And why couldn't I? He was mine now, to do with and train as I pleased. That very thought moved my feet forward until I was standing behind him, my hands sliding around his waist and under the long shirt to touch his skin. I was at a loss to understand why his skin and the touch of it was so intoxicating, I just knew what I wanted and what my body claimed it needed.

"I could kill you, you know."

Once again the words were cold as he just stood there. Gone was the way his body moved and reacted to my touch. He didn't silently draw in a breath, nor did he lean into my touch just the slightest to feel a little more. He didn't incline his head and he just plain didn't react. Instead he just spoke in a quiet dead voice, dispelling the act right then and there.

"Will you?" I asked, still touching him.

"Don't touch me." The words were hissed in hatred, sharp and cutting through the air. In one movement the boy jerked from my hold and stepped into my closet, moving to sit in the back corner, holding his knees. The eyes that looked back at me weren't emotionless now. Instead they were narrowed and filled with hatred that couldn't possibly be directed at me, could it? In the breath of a second he'd gone from dead to hating me.

Was this just another game?

I returned the frown to him and walked toward the closet. Then, in a true feat of self control, I closed the door and locked it tight, shutting him in and closing him off from my world until I felt the need to change my underwear. He made no protest nor any sound and as he disappeared from sight behind the wooden door I couldn't help but sigh in relief. Out of sight, out of mind.

At the very least it was better then just staring at him all night and wondering that the hell I was going to do. So now, that he was locked away again behind my flimsy door, now I could close my eyes and wonder what the hell I was going to do. My situation hasn't changed much, but it was a small improvement.

I slept surprisingly well, all things considered. A couple hours were spent mulling over his and my fate and what exactly my employer wanted from me and what he hadn't told me that he wanted from the situation. Those thoughts led to occasional thoughts of the boy breaking through the flimsy closet door to assassinate me in the middle of the night, before sleep arrived. I suppose, somewhere along the line, I decided that he would deem me not worth killing and try to escape, which would undoubtedly wake me up with the amount of movement it would take and the amount of noise. Whatever I told myself I was able to fall asleep easily enough and not be too paranoid.

True to what I'd thought, a noise did wake me in the middle of the night, coming directly from the closet. I opened my eyes, but otherwise didn't move, listening intently to the room around me. Nothing else moved, and the muffled sounds that reached my ear soon registered, in spite of my disbelief.

Haku was crying.

What the hell am I supposed to do with a crying boy?

Confusion, and then annoyance. I turned my head and glared at the door, channeling my annoyance into anger and doing my best to filter it away. Crying? What kind of assassin spends a night in a dark room and starts crying? Who'd trained this boy? Assassins weren't supposed to react to everyday things, much less were they supposed to let themselves be taken in by emotions like fear and sympathy, or hell even despair. So what was this boy doing crying? And why did it have to be something so god damned annoying?

I climbed out of bed and walked right over to the closet, hearing the sounds become more muffled as he struggled to cover it up. I knew he heard me and I knew he was trying to hide it and I didn't care. I just wanted him to shut the hell up! I hated crying, it was pointless and stupid and certainly not something I wanted to deal with from him. Assassins I could deal with, I could probably even attempt to re-train one into what my employer wanted. But crying children?

If I wanted to deal with crying children I would have found a girl in school, married her and had my own fucking kids.

I opened the door, making it swing back into the wall harshly from my own anger… and then just stood there. Haku was sitting on the floor, the same as when I'd shut and locked the door, though now he looked completely different. His hair was matted more to his face, small strands pasted against the wet red lines from tears that soaked the shirt he'd borrowed. He tried to hide it, but his hands were trembling and his normally emotionless eyes had the look of someone completely broken and lost. He didn't look like an assassin at all now, only a homeless boy at the mercy of a man like myself, who could do whatever he wanted.

I groaned to myself and leaned down, grabbing his shoulder harshly and pulling him from the closet. He pulled against me, weakly trying to get away, but didn't put up much of a fight as I shoved him to sit on the bed and then tossed a random towel from the bathroom into his lap.

"If you're going to cry then do it, if not, then wipe yourself up." I hated crying and I hated watching people do it. It wasn't worth all the trouble people went to. After all, if a situation was really so bad to cry about then what the hell was sitting there with tears streaming down your face going to gain you but pity? Pity didn't help in any situation.

The boy looked down at the towel, then pulled it up and wiped the tears from his face, finally seeming to relax. I'll never understand him, because my act of not really caring seemed to trigger his ability to stop and hold it all back. I really should just give up on understanding this boy.

"So what happens now?" He asked me softly after a few moments.

"Do you work for Jiraiya or Naruto?" The words escaped my mouth without me even really thinking about it. I had wondered, but I'd expected to have more control over my words and reactions.

He looked up at me in surprise and cocked his head slightly, sitting there and seeming to wonder for a moment if he was allowed to answer that question. "He spoke with you then?"

"Yeah, the creepy kid offered me a job, of all things. But then, that was part of the plan from the start, wasn't it?"

Haku nodded his head, once. He straightened himself, a single movement making him look sure of himself and no longer like a submissive toy. Apparently I was on a new standing with him, yet again. And once again I have absolutely no idea what to expect from him or how to react.

"Are you aware that you're included in this offer?"

He paused, but again he nodded, acknowledging what I already knew to be true. So, that answered all my questions and now I was left with the same issue as before, only now more concrete.

If I stayed with my current employer, I would be retraining Haku and keeping my known job. However, on the down side, I would most likely learn what the other two tattooed boys could do first hand. And if this Naruto was smart, well then it was safe to say that those other two were just as good, if not better, then Haku. No matter the mission, you never send someone far away from you unless they are expendable or replaceable.

Haku was expendable.

Haku knew he was expendable.

"You were told you would die on this job." I said softly.

"I'm told that for every job." A small wistful smile crossed his face as he took off the shirt I'd offered him and tucked his hair back, baring the large tattoo to be seen. "The day we are given these is the day we die. There is nothing else after this point other then waiting to be laid in the earth. They found me and gave me something to do rather then just sit in the cold alley and wait for death. Now I am death."

The speech sounded practiced, recited, memorized. This boy… was exactly what I'd always strived for in my job. He was the job, nothing else but the weapon used to kill others. To him I probably seemed to live an extravagant life with my room and routine. This boy lived by killing or was killed himself. He traded death for life, never expecting a single moment more or taking a moment for granted. He was the walking dead, and suddenly the very thought of my job just made me sick.

I stood up from my bed and passed him, not looking at him or anything else in the room as I stepped into the bathroom. The cool tiles pressed against my feet and jolted my skin into feeling, but the rest of my body couldn't feel them. I just passed to the sink, and pressed my hands to the edges, leaning forward and pressing my forehead to the cool metal. I felt colder then anything I touched, cold and lost. What the fucking hell was I thinking in a life like this? It was the first time… the only time I'd ever questioned what I'd become, staring into my own blank eyes in the mirror.

Was I him? Would I become him? Was I already dead?

My stomiach churned, not willing to accept those words and wishing to throw them up as if I'd eaten them rather then thought of them. I slid to the floor and felt everything slide down with me. Words, thoughts, actions, none of it seemed graspable and it all slipped away from me, letting me do nothing else but sit and stare as my mind tried to comprehend.

Time passed, I don't know how much. I just know I sat there alone, and then he was standing next to me. I watched him with quiet eyes, half my mind not even realizing what I was looking at, and yet seeing him perfectly. He knelt in front of me and watched me like a child in the pet store discovering a new animal. A quiet look, non-threatening and finally a small hand reaching forward and brushing against my skin.

He felt as cold and as dead as the tile beneath me.

"My eyes." He whispered.

Cold dead hands crossed my cheek, sliding down my neck and back over my cheek again. For a moment he looked like he wanted to say somthing else, but no words crossed his lips. Instead he simply traced his cold, dead feeling fingers across my lips.

I must be a fool.

This wasn't the way to do my job, this wasn't the way to retrain a possible deadly child killer into an obedient sex slave who's do what ever my sick employer wanted. This wasn't the way to disarm a possible threat to someone's life. This was the way be caught off guard and get myself killed..

My thoughts quieted as his lips pressed to mine, melting into a soft sigh of release. I forgot my training, forgot my life and just melted into nothing.

(To read the rest of this scene, which is a lemon, please visit my page on TONFA. The address is listed in my profile for all who need it, as won't let me post the graphic lemon scene that follows.)


	11. Chapter 11

Title: "Slave boy"  
Series: Naruto  
Author: Snow Tigra  
Pairings: ZabuzaxHaku, NarutoxSasukexGaara, OrochimaruxHaku  
Warnings: Yaoi. Pets. Slight age differences, assassins and certain characters being older then we've seen in the series.  
Summary: Zabuza's worked for his share of unsightly characters. But when his current boss gets a boy as a 'gift' he finds himself forgetting his current job and getting distracted by this boy. 

Chapter 11

I woke in a daze of thoughts, my head swimming and my eyes refusing to focus. The surface beneath me was wet and warm, making my stomach churn form the coppery smell that wafted around me. The light above me seemed far too bright, blinding me the minute I opened my eyes and it was a fight to even stay conscious. Minutes passed and it seemed even longer, but eventually my mind found a settling ground and things started to make sense.

I was lying on the bathroom floor, my head throbbing wildly from the very back where I'd been hit. Sitting beside me on the floor was one of my larger boots from the closet, one that sported a steel toe and treads bigger then most of the shoe. Well, now I knew what hit me… even if I had no idea how he'd managed to get that out of the closet and into the bathroom without me seeing him. The kid was good, far too good. Once again I'd completely fallen for his little trap and I felt like a complete moron.

A complete moron with a bleeding cut in the back of his head, slowly covering the floor. Well, that just made everything better, didn't it?

I stood up to my feet, feeling only a little woozy from moving a bit too faster. Then I was at the sink, using a formally white hand cloth to hastily clean off the wound. The bleeding receded to a small incessant drip down my back and I finally decided it wasn't worth bothering with, least not for right now. I moved out of the bathroom and threw on clothing, my mind quickly realizing that Haku was no where in the room. Soon, neither was I.

He could have escaped by any number of ways. The advantage of our building having so many ways up and down gave my employer his own choice of escape routes should something happen. However, it also messed up my chances of catching anyone trying to get in and out. That's why Shikamaru had a job and he was good at what he did. The fact that the alarms weren't going off in the hallways meant one of two things had happened, and I didn't have to think about them too hard. Needless to say, Shikamaru was out, or possibly dead and I didn't have time to check on him.

Assassins worked in their own ways, but the assignments always went the same way. Take out the sentry and guards, then take out the target. I had been down in the bathroom and Shikamaru wasn't responding. No one else was racing through the halls like me… so Haku had to be in the room where his target was.

At least it would make him easier to find.

My pace picked up, my eyes scanning the hallways and stairs as I checked my gun by touch to make sure it was in working order. I knew the gun well enough I could tell it would work by feeling the gears and the bullets and it made it much easier to keep my eyes on what was around me and be prepared. I made it to the area where Orochimaru slept, only to hear the sound of one of my own guns going off, a bullet thumping into the door in front of me.

Shit, he'd gotten into my guns as well?

I moved forward and kicked the door open, immediately dropping as another gunshot moved through the room. A blink from me and my gun was aimed as I took in the scene.

Orochimaru's bedroom was a mess, pillows on the floor, along with a blanket creating a curved speed bump that made dashing across the room a nice little annoyance. Orochimaru was leaning against the bedpost, holding the gun in his hands. Needles glinted in his leg and two in the shoulder of his dominant arm, forcing him to hold the gun in his other hand. So he'd shot the door while missing Haku, he wasn't able to hold the gun steady with his weak arm.

Haku, meanwhile, was crouched in the corner beside me, needles glinting in his hands, between his fingers. The perfect weapons for an assassination. He watched me with deadly eyes as I fired my gun, my motion only hesitating a second. But it was a second too much, because in that second he was moving, rolling under my shot and a handful of needles flew out, two catching me in the shoulder and two more catching me in my neck.

The feeling was sharp but dull. Then, a low, numb feeling shot through my body and I fell to the ground, unable to move. Fuck… this boy was too good.

It was immediately apparent that his chosen weapon, the one he was best with, were these needles. They weren't poisoned and I didn't have time to figure out where he'd kept them on his body, or hid them in the bedroom, but he was a master. Four hits and he'd taken me down, hitting just the right nerve clusters to complete disable my movement.

In a second's time, I'd failed in my job, which was now showing in front of my face. I couldn't move, I couldn't move a single limb in my body. Instead I just landed on the floor, jerking just a little as the needles were pushed deeper into my body and I was left to lay and watch.

Another set of needles hit Orochimaru, this time completely on target. Four needles in a perfect circle punctured his heart, and he was dead in an instant, falling on his own gun. One of his snakes slithered out from under the bed, curling over his body before it disappeared once more. It was fitting in a way, as if the snakes were mourning their sick master.

Lights flashed above me as Haku finally stood from his crouch. The alarms had finally been tripped and I knew in that instant that Shikamaru was perfectly fine, he had always been. He must have trusted me to take care of everything, and instead turned on the alarms when there was a problem with me taking down the assassin. He must not have loved our employer much either… or maybe he'd received another offer. Whatever the reason he had his reasons, and I couldn't blame him. Neither of us would be upset with Orochimaru dying and now it was done.

In a few moments, Haku would be dead as well. It seemed we would all get what we wanted… well, except me.

Haku dropped the needles he had left, the thin metal clattering loudly on the floor. His foot steps were silent as he walked over to me, still barefoot and still wearing the shirt I'd offered him. It drooped off one shoulder, making him look young and almost innocent once again. His hair was tangled, matted to one side and I finally did notice a bullet wound in one leg, but it wasn't serious. He moved as if it wasn't there, not even seeming to notice it.

I was left watching helplessly as he crossed over to me, and knelt next to my body, looking at me quietly. I couldn't move to respond to him, but I could feel the floor beneath me grow warm. I was bleeding again, and this time I knew I was dying.

"Zabuza-san." He said softly, just watching me. Then he did the strangest thing. He laid down next to me, his body draped across mine. His skin was cool to the touch, still feeling dead, yet there was a kind of warmth in it at the same time… or my thoughts could have just been dissipating. "I wish… you could have loved me."

I heard the door open behind me, my world dropping into slow motion and blurring sounds. Men clattered into the room, their guns clicking to ready.

A thought occurred to me as I heard the bullets escape into the air and pierce through both of us.

I felt as if I'd been here before.

Dying with him.

Dying with him on the cold ground, hearing the random noises around us. And it felt familiar, the fact that I was lying here, not able to tell him what I wanted to. Never able to tell him.

My consciousness drifted away and my very last thought filled my being. White dots filled my vision and for a moment, as I looked at Haku's silent face… it was snowing.

The end.


End file.
